Naruto High School 101
by ShinigamiWings
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki is a new student at Konoha High. At first, it seems like a regular high school, but he soon comes to find out that there's much more to the school than meets the eye.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Got to hurry! Got to hurry!" a girl with pink, short hair said to herself as she ran to her classroom.

The girl, wearing a green and white school uniform, slammed the door to the classroom open and ran to her seat. It wasn't a regular classroom; it probably looked like a classroom from Vampire Knight. Several people were scattered around the room, not caring about time.

"Hm, I see someone slept in again this morning," a blonde haired girl chuckled, "eh, Sakura?"

"Whatever, Ino!" the pink haired girl, Sakura, snapped.

"Oi! You two, calm down," a girl with long black hair and blue highlights ordered. "Class is almost ready to begin."

"It's not like Kakashi-sensei's going to be here on time anyway, Sophia-lincho*," a boy with black hair in a ponytail yawned.

"Shikamaru-kun, like you should be talking," Ino replied.

"Hey, I always get here on time."

"Yeah, but you sleep during most of the classes," another boy with sunglasses said (Shino).

Everyone laughed. Their laughter would've lasted for a few more minutes if it weren't for an interruption.

"Are you maggots not in your seats!?" a voice yelled as the classroom door was kicked in.

All the students jumped before they ran to their seats.

"Everyone, stand up," Sophia, the class president, commanded.

"Hai*! Good morning, Tsunade-sama!" the students replied in unison as a lady with blonde hair in pigtails walked in.

"You can sit down," Tsunade said. "I trust you all got here on time, right?"

The blonde-haired principal eyed Sakura.

"Tsunade-dono*, Sakura-chan was in her seat a half second before the bell rang," Sophia replied. "It was all of them that weren't in their seats."

Sophia pointed to Ino, Shino, two boys with black hair (one longer hair than the other), a boy with brown hair and a dog, and a girl with black hair in two Chinese-styled buns; they all collapsed.

"Hey, Sophia!" the boy with the dog exclaimed. "What's the big deal!? At least give us a warning when you're going to rat out on us!"

"Kiba, it's no use," one of the boys with black hair (the one with longer hair) replied. "Sophia-chan has to tell Tsunade-sama everything."

"Thank you, Neji-kun," Sophia said as she put a peace sign up. "Anyway, where is Kakashi-senpai*? Are you taking over for him?"

"No, he's here. Kakashi, bring him in."

Tsunade's voice boomed in the small classroom. A man with silver hair and a mask entered the room with a blonde-haired boy and a lady with black, short hair behind him. The boy wasn't wearing the usual school uniform. Instead, he wore a black overcoat, the sleeves rolled up and his uniform underneath. He also had a black headband.

"Everyone, this is Naruto Uzumaki," Tsunade introduced. "He's transferred to Konoha High from a far away school."

_Who in the world is this guy? He looks like a freak._ Sakura thought. _Well, as long as he doesn't bother Sasuke-kun --_

Sakura's thoughts were interrupted by the boy's voice. Apparently, he was walking to his seat when he tripped by the boy with the short black hair.

"Hey! Why'd you trip me, huh!?" Naruto asked the boy, raising his fist up to the person's face.

"I didn't trip you, idiot," the boy, Sasuke, replied. "You tripped over yourself. Don't blame other people for your embarrassment."

That ticked Naruto off. "What was that!?"

"You heard me."

Naruto grabbed Sasuke by his shirt. Sakura was about to break up their fight when Sophia came out of nowhere and hit both of the boys on the head.

"Fighting is prohibited on school grounds!" she yelled. "If you two want to act like immature children, go somewhere else!"

Both of them calmed down after a second. Naruto let Sasuke go and plodded to his seat. Sophia sighed.

"Sasuke-kun, you should know better than that," Sophia muttered to him as she walked back to her seat.

"Thank you, Sophia," Tsunade said after everyone quieted down. "So, I guess I'll let Kakashi take his class back."

Kakashi, the man with the silver hair, stepped up to the chalkboard as Tsunade and the lady, Shizune, exited the classroom.

"All right, everyone, open up your textbooks…"

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"Geez, that Naruto guy got on my nerves this morning," Ino complained as she got out of her P.E. clothes. "I mean, how dare someone mess with Sasuke-kun!"

"I know," Sakura agreed. "It's a good thing you were there, Sophia-lincho."

The other girls nodded their heads. Sophia sighed again. "I didn't do it for your fan girl purposes; those two were just getting on my nerves."

"Sure they were," the girl with the black hair in the Chinese styled buns muttered.

"I heard that, TenTen," Sophia retorted.

"But you know what I meant."

Sophia sighed once more. "Whatever, could we just hurry up? I want to hurry to lunch before the boys take all the food."

The rest of the girls nodded their heads in agreement. After they finished getting dressed, they ran to the lunch room.

"Ha! We're first!" Sakura cheered.

"That's a relief," Ino muttered to herself.

"Not so fast, girls!" Kiba's voice yelled as he and the rest of the boys ran into the lunch room.

"Oh, crap, hurry!" TenTen rushed, almost gliding to the line.

The girls followed after her, not wanting to be after them. Unfortunately, Sophia tripped and didn't make it in time to beat the guys.

"Are you okay, Sophia?" Neji asked her, holding out his hand.

Sophia blushed and took it. "I-I'm fine. Thank you."

"No problem."

"Sophia, stop flirting with Neji and get in line!" Ino yelled at her friend.

Sophia's face turned completely red. It turned normal when she realized her stomach was growling. _Man, I was hoping to be one of the first ones in line. Looks like I'll be last. After all, Neji was in line before me._

"Sophia, you can go in front of me," Neji told her.

"N-No, you were in front of me first," she stuttered.

"Sophia."

Sophia looked at Neji. His eyes looked like they were pleading. Sophia was almost hypnotized, but her stomach interrupted. Neji, being the only polite guy in the room, stepped behind Sophia, letting her get her food first.

"Th-Thank you, again, Neji-kun," Sophia replied as she grabbed a tray.

As Sophia got her lunch, she heard her friends giggling at her. _I swear, if they're laughing at the incident with me and Neji, they're so going to get it._

"Oh, Neji-kun, where are you sitting?" Sophia asked him when she realized most of the tables were full.

"I'll probably go somewhere else."

"Do you mind if I come with you?"

Neji was surprised at her remark. "U-Um, sure."

Both of them were walking towards another table when Sophia recognized the new kid sitting by himself in the corner. She stopped and thought for a minute.

"Sophia?" Neji said as he stepped to her side. "What's wrong?"

"Let's sit with Naruto," she suggested.

Neji was surprised again. "I don't know…"

"It's fine if you don't want to sit with him. I'll just sit by him tomorrow."

Neji was about to answer when he noticed Shikamaru, Shino, Chouji, Lee, and Kiba walking over to Naruto's table.

"I think he'll be fine today, Sophia," he said with a smile.

Sophia simply nodded her head. "Okay, let's go then."

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"Well, look who it is," Ino said as Sophia walked into the classroom. "How was your lunch date with Neji?"

Sophia's face turned different shades of pink and red. "D-Date? Wh-What are you talking about?"

"You know, when you sat with him at lunch?"

"Oh, that? That wasn't a date."

"Of course it was," Kiba butted in. "When a girl and guy do something together, it's usually called a date."

Sophia had a pulse mark on her head. "Nobody asked you…"

"Who's this Neji guy?" Sophia heard Naruto ask one of the guys.

"He'll be coming in soon," Lee replied.

Sasuke let out a small chuckle. "If you can't even remember people's names, you must be the stupidest person in the world."

Naruto got annoyed at Sasuke's comment. "What was that!?"

"You heard me!"  
Sophia couldn't believe it. It was a reenactment of this morning's incident. She let out her famous sigh.

"Sophia-lincho, aren't you going to stop them?" Sakura inquired.

"Let them be," Sophia said as Neji walked in. "They'll get in trouble once Genma-senpai is here."

"Listen here, Sauce-kay!" Naruto roared. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to be the souban* of all Japan!"

_S-Souban?_ Sophia thought herself.

"Tch, that's even more stupid," Sasuke replied in a cool voice.

That ticked Naruto off even more. "Why you-"

"Hey! Unless you two want detentions for a whole week, I suggest you stop fighting," a voice said.

"Genma-senpai!" Sophia gasped.

A man with light brown hair appeared out of nowhere between Sasuke and Naruto.

"He's so cool!" all the girls in the class said.

_What's with them?_ The boys asked in their heads.

"Sasuke, Naruto, you both get detentions," Genma said.

"What!? But it was his fault!" the two yelled.

"Like I give a crap," Genma replied.

Sophia laughed.

"And you," Genma interrupted as he turned to Sophia, "didn't you think to stop them? You are, of course, the class president."

Sophia stopped laughing. A sweatdrop appeared on the back of her head. "U-Um, I thought I'd let you handle it, Genma-senpai…"

Genma was about to say something when Sophia gave him the puppy dog eyes. The teacher sighed. "Fine, I'll let off with a warning – this time. As for you two, you'll be staying a whole hour after school in the principal's office."

"Awe, not Granny's place again," Naruto groaned.

"Naruto! Don't call her a granny, or you'll regret it," Sakura warned.

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto shrugged off.

Genma coughed to get their attention. "Anyways, everybody, I'll be assigning each of you a partner. For the next two weeks, you and your partner will be working on a science project. You can do anything for the project: a video, report, poster, etc. Here are the rules." He passed out a paper to everyone. "And here are the pairings: Sophia Hatake and Neji Hyuuga."

Sophia turned and looked at Neji. They both blushed when their eyes met. _Thank you, Kami-sama*!_ Sophia thought.

"Next is Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha."

"Yay!" Sakura cheered.

"…." Sasuke was quiet. _Why? Why her, of all people?_

"After those two are Hinata Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki; Ino Yamanaka and Shikamaru Nara; TenTen and Lee; and…"

Genma looked at the remaining people. "Well, I guess since there are three of you left… Kiba Inuzaka, Shino Aburame, and Chouji Akamichi will be working together. Now, go sit next to your partner and you can spend the rest of the hour figuring out what you're during for your project."

"Yes, sensei (senpai)," the class replied.

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Well, that's the first chapter of my Naruto High School story. At first, I wasn't going to make this story, but I was inspired by another Naruto high school story called "High School for Idiots." If you haven't red it, you need to. It is absolutely hilarious. Anyway, I based it mostly on the "Shippu! Konoha Gakuen Den" manga. Oh, just in case some of you are asking who Sophia is, she is my fancharacter. Some of you are also asking, what is the asterisk doing by that word? Well, those words are Japanese. In case people don't know what they mean, I'm going to put their meanings down here.

Lincho*: this usually mean "class representative" or "class president"

Hai*: "yes ma'am"

Dono*: similar to _–Sama_, but a little bit different; English subtitles make it out to mean "Lord" or "Lady"

Senpai*: used to address senior colleagues or mentor figures

Souban*: a slang word used by Japanese gangs to refer to their gang leader

Kami-sama*: a Japanese god


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: I Never Thought Dodge Ball Would End Like This…**

Last period went by fast. Sophia had just gotten her things together and was about to go meet up with the student council when she noticed Ino staring at something.

"Um, Ino-chan, what's going on?" Sophia asked her.

Ino jumped. It took her a second to collect her composure. "Oh, Sophia-lincho, it's you."

"Ino-chan, what's going on?" Sophia asked again.

Ino pointed behind the building. "It's Sasuke-kun and that annoying transfer student."

Sophia looked where Ino pointed and saw Sasuke and Naruto fighting. It was getting interesting too. Sasuke threw a punch, and Naruto dodged. Naruto punched back, and Sasuke kicked Naruto's legs which caused Naruto to fall down. Sasuke was about to kick Naruto again, but Naruto rolled out of the way and head butted Sasuke. Sasuke stepped back and slipped on a soda can. When he fell, Naruto took the chance to beat him. However, Naruto also slipped on the can and… well, let's just say those two got way closer than normal teenage guys are supposed to.

Both Sasuke and Naruto got up and spit.

"Why'd you do that, huh!?" Naruto yelled at Sasuke.

"That's my line," Sasuke muttered.

What they didn't know was the Sophia and Ino were cracking up around the corner.

"Oh… my… gosh… That was so freakin' hilarious!" Sophia said through her laughs.

"I… really… shouldn't…. be laughing," Ino tried to sound serious. "After all…. It's Sasuke-kun…"

After about five minutes, the girls' finally calmed down.

"Ah, Sophia-chan, that's where you are," a voice said out of nowhere.

Sophia and Ino turned to look at Neji, who had noticed them laughing. Sophia blushed.

"Everyone was looking for you; you're late."

The president looked at her watch and noticed the time.

"Oh no! I'm late!" Sophia yelled. "Sorry, Ino-chan, but I've got to go!"

"Okay, bye!" Ino waved as Sophia and Neji walked off.

"What were you two laughing at?" Neji inquired as he opened the door for Sophia.

"Oh, it was nothing," Sophia replied, trying not to laugh again.

Neji wasn't assured by that answer, but he shrugged it off anyway. Before he stepped in, he heard a few voices around the corner. They weren't friendly voices either.

"Neji-kun, what is it?" Sophia asked as she looked where he was looking.

It was Naruto again, but instead of Sasuke or one of the other boys standing in front of him, it was a gang leader.

"Ha, I've heard you're a really good fighter," the man said. "You don't look like much, though."

"Like I care," Naruto said as he tried to walk past the guy.

"Hey, who said you could go anywhere, huh?" the man asked. "Come on; show me what you got, kid."

Sophia was about to tell the guy to go away and to leave Naruto alone, but Neji stopped her.

"Let him take care of it," Neji whispered.

Sophia didn't understand, but she nodded her head anyway. "Okay."

The guy threw a punch at Naruto, but Naruto ducked behind him and pulled out… yoyos!?

_What the-!? _Sophia and Neji thought at the same time.

Sophia's eyebrows twitched. _Yoyos… seriously? That's just… weird…_

By the time Sophia's thoughts were finished, Naruto had defeated the gang leader.

"Sugoi*!" Sophia yelled, amazed that Naruto had finished off a man like that with just yoyos.

"Ah, Boss!" a few of the other guys that were with the gang leader shrieked.

They picked their leader up. Before they left, one of the guys said, "Just wait, kid, we'll be back."

"Tch, whatever!" Naruto said as he walked off.

_Whoever knew that someone like _him _would be that strong? _Sophia thought to herself.

"Sophia," Neji got her attention.

Sophia looked at her watch again. "Ah! We're _really _late!!"

Sophia grabbed Neji's wrist and ran to the room where the student council was meeting. She burst through the door, panting as she stopped by her seat.

"S-Sorry about that, guys," Sophia apologized to the council.

The student council wasn't just made up of Sophia, president, and Neji, vice president (ironic, huh?). There a few others, too. Surprisingly enough, Shikamaru was part of it. There were two other people there that weren't in the three's classes except for P.E. and English. One was a girl who had long, pink hair with streaks of green in it. The other was a boy with shaggy, black hair.

"It's fine," the boy replied.

"Yeah, we're used to it, anyway," the girl added.

Sophia had a pulse mark on her head. "And what do you mean by that, Sasunda-chan?"

Sasunda suddenly had a sweat drop on the back of her head. She laughed nervously. "Well, I mean, since you…."

"Since your dad is Kakashi-sensei, you're usually late like him," the boy finished.

"Nimaru!" Sasunda whispered loudly.

"He's right you know," Shikamaru agreed.

Sophia glared at him. Shikamaru noticed and turned his head in a different direction.

"Come on; we don't have time for this," Neji interrupted.

"You're right, Neji-kun!" Sophia said, for some reason being a little bit to happy to answer.

_When did she get so perky? _Shikamaru asked himself.

**The next day…**

As Sakura, Ino, and Hinata walked to school, they noticed that a lot of people were gathering around something.

"Hey, what's happening?" Ino asked someone.

"It's the transfer student," the person replied. "He's fighting some kid."

Sakura gasped. "Where's Sophia-"

"She went to go get Tsunade-sama," Sasuke said out of nowhere.

"S-Sasuke-kun!" the three girls said in unison.

"That guy… he's so arrogant…" Sasuke muttered to himself.

The four decided to go take a closer look. They pushed through all the people, trying not to get lost in the crowd. Finally, they made it to the front. However, they were a little late. The kid that was fighting Naruto was lying helplessly on the ground.

"I'm done with these kid fights!" Naruto yelled to the audience. "If there's anyone who's serious about fighting out there, I'm sending out a challenge! Try and beat me!"

The students couldn't believe their ears. Naruto was challenging _them_? No, not only them. They didn't know he was referring to the whole entire country of Japan.

"This kid's got problems," Sakura heard a person say.

"No, he doesn't have problems," another person said. "He's got guts."

**Tsunade's office…**

"So what, you're just going to let him get away with this!?" Sophia screamed at Tsunade as her hands slammed on the desk.

"Calm down," Tsunade replied. "Let's just see how well our little Naruto here can do. If it gets to where the school is in total disaster, I'll stop this nonsense."

"But-"

Sophia was cut off.

"Sophia, listen to Tsunade-sama," Kakashi told her. "Even if you do argue, it's pointless. She's in charge, not you."

Sophia put her hand to her forehead and sighed. "I guess you're right. But still, I can't just sit around and watch him beat the crap out of other students."

"Then don't watch," Tsunade replied.

The president just walked to the door. "Tsunade-dono, I respect what you're doing; but if this goes on for too long, I'm going to take things into my own hands."

"Sure, sure."

Sophia plodded to the classroom.

"Tsunade-sama's not going to do anything?" Neji inquired when she entered.

"Unfortunately," Sophia sighed.

"I'm with you, whatever you do; you know that, right?"

"Of course I know that."

Neji let out a slight chuckle. "Okay, then."

**P.E. Class – Teacher: Might Guy**

"Okay, everyone, gather round!" Guy yelled. "Today, we're going to be playing a game of dodge ball. Team captains are going to be Sophia and Nimaru."

The two looked at each other.

"This should be fun," Sophia told Nimaru.

"Yeah, it's not everyday I get to beat you, Sophia-chan," Nimaru replied.

"Ha, you're getting ahead of yourself, Nimaru-kun."

"Okay, you two, go ahead and choose your team," Guy interrupted. "Sophia, you can go first."

Sophia didn't hesitate. "Neji."

Nimaru went next. "Kiba."

"Sakura."

"Lee."

"Sasuke."

"Sasunda."

"Hinata."

"TenTen."

There were four people left: Naruto, Shino, Chouji, and Shikamaru. Sophia looked at them and decided who the two people were that she wanted on her team. She chose one, hoping the other one wouldn't be chosen by Nimaru.

"Shikamaru."

"Shino."

"Naruto."

Nimaru stopped to look at her. Apparently, that's who he was going to choose next. Sophia gave a sly smile. Nimaru just shook his head. "Chouji."

"Okay, then, the teams are set. Sophia's team is Neji, Sakura, Sasuke, Hinata, Shikamaru, and Naruto. Nimaru's team is Kiba, Lee, Sasunda, TenTen, Shino, and Chouji."

The game lasted for about thirty minutes. The two teams had been clashing so much. First, Nimaru's team got a point, then Sophia's. Nimaru's, Sophia's, etc. The two teams were almost tied. Sophia's team was in the lead by one point. The only people left on Sophia's team were Sophia and Naruto; on Nimaru's team, it was just Lee.

"Come on, Lee!" TenTen and Nimaru cheered. "You can do it!"

Lee nodded his head and picked up one of the balls in the middle. He intimidated both of them, acting like he was throwing it at Naruto. But, when Sophia was caught off guard, he threw it at her.

"Out!" Guy judged. "Point for Nimaru's team!"

"Naruto-kun, this rests on you," Sophia told him as she walked off. "Win this."

Naruto nodded his head. "Okay."

Guy put a ball in the middle of the room. He blew his whistle. Both Lee and Naruto ran towards the ball. The two were going at the same speed, however, Lee got there first.

"Yeah, Lee's got this!" Kiba screamed.

"Do it, Lee!" Nimaru commanded.

And Lee did as told. He threw the ball at Naruto. It looked as if it were over for Sophia's team; but, at the last minute, Naruto caught the ball and threw it back at Lee. Lee couldn't dodge. He wasn't expecting Naruto to be able to catch it.

"Out!" Guy yelled when Lee was hit. "Sophia's team wins!"

"He did it!" Sophia cheered as she ran up to Naruto and hugged him. "Great job, Naruto-kun!"

"I-It was nothing," Naruto said, blushing.

Sakura and Hinata were jumping up and down. Sasuke and Neji were both kind of sulking in a corner.

"I can't believe I didn't make it that far," Neji mumbled.

"I can't believe a guy like that actually got further than me," Sasuke mumbled.

Shikamaru was just… sleeping.

"Great job, everyone," Guy complimented with his famous smile which blinded everyone except for Lee. "I wish I could give both teams a prize, but, unfortunately, I can't."

"Wait, there's a prize?" Kiba asked.

"Of course, didn't I say that at the beginning?" Guy asked.

"No," everyone replied.

Guy collapsed. "W-Well then, now I'm telling you. And since Sophia's team one, they will not have to run their laps for a month."

The team cheered. "All right! No laps!"

"Okay, okay," Guy caught their attention. "Go get your showers. You all smell like pigs."

_And you're one to talk,_ Naruto said to himself.

**After school…**

Sophia had met up with Sakura, Ino, Hinata, and TenTen. Student council wasn't meeting that day. When they got outside, they noticed there was another crowd. The girls decided to get in front of everyone.

"Holy crap! It's Kiba-kun!" Sakura gasped when they got to the front. "And he's fighting… Naruto!?"

"What in the world does he think he's doing!?" Ino thought aloud.

"Um, Sophia-lincho, you're not going to stop them?" Hinata asked.

Sophia just closed her eyes and smiled. "I have no authority over them. And Tsunade-dono is telling me to just keep an eye on him. I can't do anything."

"What!?" the other girls screamed.

"Well, _Naruto_, let's get this over with; shall we?" Kiba said.

"Stop the big talk," Naruto replied. "After all, it's not going to look so well when I beat you."

"You beat me? That's a load of bull!"

Kiba ran towards Naruto, fist up in the air. "Take this!" He acted as if he were going to punch Naruto; Naruto ducked, but instead of Kiba missing….

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*Evil laugh* Cliff-hanger!!! I know; you all must hate me for it. Oh well… anyways, hope you liked it. I'm going to start posting up chapter every week, whether or not I get any reviews. However, that's going to start the week after next week because next week I have to take exams. (Stupid school) As you can tell, some of this is going along with "Shippu! Konoha Gakuen Den!" I do not own that, nor do I own Naruto. If I did, then Neji would be mine!! *fan girl scream* Anyways, here's the word of the chapter:

Sugoi*: "awesome"


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, just because I'm bored, I'm going to go ahead and post the third chapter.

Now, it's time for a random rant. ***SPOILER ALERT*** If you are not caught up on the Naruto manga, do NOT read this!!! OKay!??!?!?!? Anyways... I CAN'T BELIEVE KAKASHI DIED!!! NOOOOO!!!!! KAKASHI-SAMA!!!!! *cries* He was like my favorite character. Naruto, you better beat the crap out of Pain or I'll come over to the Naruto world and beat the crap out of you!!!

Anyways, back to the story. I'm going to start writing in different people's perspectives. Sometimes, I'll just write in a regular format. But most of the time, perspective. So if you hate perspectives... TOO BAD!!!

* * *

**Chapter 3 – Ah, If Only Naruto Would Have Realized It Earlier…**

**(Naruto's perspective)**

Kiba ran towards me, fist up in the air. "Take this!" He acted as if he was going to punch me; I ducked, but instead of Kiba missing, he kicked me in the head. That was a major surprise. I fell on my back, almost knocked out.

"Sugoi, go Kiba!" a boy whooped.

"Yeah!" a few others yelled.

I started to get ticked off. I couldn't let this guy have victory over this match. No, because I had all ready sent out an invitation for anyone to fight me. If I lost my first fight, none of those people that were going to challenge me would take me seriously. They'd just think I was some kind of poser, a kid, just bluffing. I couldn't let that happen.

I opened my eyes and struggled to get up.

"So, you're ready for more?" Kiba asked in a mocking tone.

My fists were clenched. Enough was enough! I tackled him down and tried to throw a punch at him. Unfortunately, the annoying loud mouth moved his head, and we both strived to get a hold on each other.

After a few minutes of me strangling him and him strangling me, I managed to throw a punch at him. He flew back. _Maybe I overdid it…_

He got up, looking more pissed than I was when he had kicked me. "That's it! No more Mr. Nice guy!" He threw a punch at me, but I caught his fist. Next, I kneed him in his stomach. Kiba spit out blood and fell to the ground.

_This is it!_ I thought as I began my attack. But for some reason, that bothersome president, I think her name's Sophia, stepped in front of me and repelled my attack.

"That's enough, Naruto!" she said. "You've all ready won. Kiba's not going to be getting up any time soon. You can go home."

What in the world was she talking about? I had not won. I looked to the dog-boy's unconscious body. Whoops; she was right. He really _wasn't _going to be getting up any time soon. Darn it… I hate it when I'm wrong and other people are right.

"Whatever," I responded as I walked off.

**(Sophia's perspective)**

I gasped when I saw that Naruto was about to pummel Kiba into the ground. Was he crazy!? Could he _not_ see that Kiba was all ready knocked out? Idiot!

I ran in between the two and gripped Naruto's still moving fist. He gave me the dirtiest look I've ever seen.

"That's enough, Naruto!" I exclaimed. "You've all ready won. Kiba's not going to be getting up any time soon. You can go home."

It took him a second to calm down. He grabbed his bag and started walking off. "Whatever."

I grasped my fists. What in the world was his freaking problem? I soothed myself. I shouldn't let him get a hold of me.

Sakura and Hinata were by Kiba at once. A few other girls and guys came too.

"That guy…" a girl, I believe her name was Kana, muttered to her friends. "How dare that guy beat him up like that! Does he have any sympathy?"

"I know," her friend agreed. "I hate guys like him"

For some reason, though I don't know why, their remarks made me feel angry. How could they talk like that? I saw them make fun of Kiba, yet they were acting like he was one of their friends? And what about Naruto? They knew nothing about him! I admit, he had gotten on my nerves a few times, but gossiping about a guy they barely recognized was beyond low.

"Instead of talking behind people's backs, why don't you help Sakura-chan and Hinata-chan take Kiba to the nurse?" I commented.

They just looked at me. Finally, Kana nodded. "Sure."

Once everyone was gone, I started to walk home once more. However, it wasn't until I noticed _him_ that I stopped.

_What's Naruto doing with those girls?_ I asked myself.

My eyebrows twitched. Dang, it was Karin and her "groupies" again. I hid behind a trash can and listened intently on their conversation.

"What do you want?" Naruto questioned, sounding a bit irritated.

"Listen here, newbie, if you keep on bothering Sasuke or any of his friends, we'll make sure Tsunade-sama takes care of it," Karin replied. "You've got that?"

"I could care less," Naruto said before he walked around the girls. "Girls like you get on my nerves."

By now, Karin had a surprised look on her face. No one had ever talked to her like that. When she realized he was trotting off, her face turned from surprise to hate.

"How dare you!" she screeched through her teeth.

Naruto turned around. "Huh?"

Karin was about to tackle him down. Anybody who was walking by could've seen that. But I could see there was more hatred than that in her eyes. I ran from behind the trash can pushed Naruto out of the way as Karin slapped me. The three of us fell to the ground. Karin was on top of me, choking me. Naruto was beside me, wondering what had happened. When he noticed Karin attacking me, I was almost unconscious. Who would've thought that she was this strong?

Naruto pushed Karin off of me. I sat up and started coughing, relieved that there was such a thing as oxygen. Karin and her friends ran off.

After they were gone, Naruto helped me up.

"Thanks," I said.

"I should be thanking you," he replied. "After all, who would know what would've happened if she tried to hurt me. Anyways, are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm sure."

He let a sigh of relief escape from his lips. He covered his mouth and blushed. I just smiled. Both of us started walking towards our houses. It seemed that his house was close to mine.

"Hey, Naruto, if Karin and her friends ever bother you again, just ignore her, okay?"

"Okay."

We strode in silence. I was about to say something, but Naruto broke the quietness instead.

"Why does everyone like that Sasuke guy?" he asked.

It took me a second to answer. "Well, that's over exaggerating on some parts. But, I guess it's because most girls think he's cute. I, on the other hand, just think that only a little bit. Most boys just admire his advancement in school. He's one of the smartest and strongest guys in school. I've never seen him once fail a test, and we've been in the same class since elementary. That guy's… something else."

Naruto didn't say anything. It wasn't until I noticed we passed my apartment building that I stopped walking.

"Ah! Sorry, Naruto-kun, but I've got to go!" I panicked. "We just missed my apartment! Kakashi-senpai's probably wondering what I've been doing!"

I ran off. When I turned to wave at him, though, he had a confused look on his face. I wondered why.

**(Naruto's perspective)**

I looked at Sophia with a confused look. _D-Did she just say Kakashi-sensei? But… what in the world did she mean? Do they live together!?_ Once she was inside, I raced home. _Don't stop… Don't stop…_ I kept telling myself.

I made it to my apartment in five minutes. That was the strangest day of my life – yet.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 – Naruto Vs. The "Rock"**

**(Naruto's Perspective)**

"_Beep! Beep! Beep!"_ I put my hand on my desk and searched for the alarm clock, wherever it was. I finally found the snooze button and hit it. _Maybe just a few more minutes…_

"Naruto-nii-chan, are you awake yet?"

_Darn it; it's Konohamaru… again. _I got up and opened the door.

"What do you want?" I asked, a little bit cranky.

"You promised to take me to school today," the little kid reminded me.

"Oh yeah."

"Well, are you ready yet?"

I looked at my half naked body and realized that I needed to get dressed. "Just a minute." I ran to my bathroom, throwing my clothes to the ground as I stepped in the shower.

* * *

"Nii-chan, I hear you've got a girlfriend," Konohamaru said as we walked to his school.

Konohamaru went to Konoha Middle School, which was right next to my school. His family lived in the same apartment building that I lived in, so I usually babysat their kids.

"Where'd you hear that from?" I asked absentmindedly.

"Well, I didn't hear it per say; I sort of _saw_ it."

That caught my full attention. I went through my memory of the past week, wondering what he was talking about. "When did you see it?"

"Yesterday; I saw you and a girl with black hair walking together. So, what's her name?"

I blushed. He thought Sophia was my girlfriend!?

"Y-You've got it all wrong, kid! She's not my girlfriend. She just happens to live near our apartment building, so we decided to walk together."

"Uhuh, right…"

I could hear the complete sarcasm in his voice. Irritation was rising inside me, but I let it slide. He'd never understand.

"All right, we're here," I said as we entered into the middle school area. "I'll see you later."

"Okay, bye!" he waved to me as he ran off to meet his friends.

I sighed. For some reason, I was half happy to have him out of my way.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, it is you!" a familiar voice greeted.

"Good morning, Sophia-lincho," I replied.

"Good morning," she said back.

We both started walking towards the high school. There was a short silence before I remembered that I wanted to ask her about something. _Oh, what was it?_

"Ah, um, how is Kiba?" I asked when I finally figured out what I wanted to ask.

"Oh, him." She sighed. "Don't worry; he's used to being in fights. That idiot's probably all ready walking around and blabbing his mouth off again."

I laughed.

"Hey, that's not funny, Sophia-lincho!" Kiba complained as he walked up behind us. "I don't blab my mouth off!"

"Hai, hai," she replied as she walked off.

"H-Hey, wait up!" Kiba and I said as we ran to catch up to her. For a girl, she was pretty fast.

As we entered the classroom, I noticed some of the kids looked pissed. _Wonder what their problem is?_

"Oh, Naruto, no hard feelings about yesterday?" Kiba asked after we both sat down.

"Sure," I said.

Well, at least someone wasn't pissed off today. _Speaking of being pissed off…_ I could feel stares behind me. Before I could turn around to look at the "suspects", the bell rang. Everyone was quiet for a second, and then they started talking again. Kakashi-sensei was late… as usual. If it were my second day at Konoha High*, I would've been wondering what was taking him so long, but I was used to his late arrival by now. Nobody knew why he was always late, well, that I knew of anyway. And that reminded me of something.

"Hey, Shikamaru," I turned to one of the only people that wasn't staring at me.

He faced me. "What is it?"

"What is the relationship between Sophia-lincho and Kakashi-sensei?"

He looked at me like I was crazy; then remembered that I was still new. After that, he started laughing. "Oh, so you're asking about that? Why?"

"Because Sophia-lincho and I walked home together yesterday, and she said something about Kakashi-sensei wondering what she's been doing…"

I was interrupted by his laughs again. "Sorry, sorry; it's okay. Kakashi-sensei is Sophia-lincho's foster father."

Yet again, another surprise. "F-Foster father?"

Shikamaru stopped laughing. His expression changed from dying of laughter to seriousness. He looked at his desk.

"Yeah, Sophia-lincho's parents… were killed when she was just a kid…"

I was shocked. This wasn't like the other surprises that I'd heard. This one was totally overwhelming. "How?"

"They were murdered. Sophia-lincho barely remembers a thing. All she remembers is their cries of torture. The weird thing is, though, nobody knows how she got out alive. Sophia-lincho can't even remember."

No way. Her parents were killed!? And she lived through it?!

"Shikamaru," Neji cut off, "You know we're not supposed to talk about 'that.'"

"Yeah, sorry," he replied.

I suddenly got the feeling that there was something wrong with the way he said "not supposed to talk about 'that.'" I was going to ask a question but-

"Yo," Kakashi-sensei welcomed as he appeared out of nowhere. Now, _that_ was something I'd never get used to.

"_Ohayo gozaimasu*," all of us replied._

"Kakashi-senpai, you're late," Sophia said. "Again."

"I know, and I'm sorry about that," he apologized.

Sophia just stared at him. And with that, our regular school day started.

* * *

**(Sophia's perspective)**

"Sophia-chan, are you okay?"

I opened my eyes. What in the world had happened? And why did my head hurt so much? I sat up and looked around. It seemed like most of my classmates were surrounding me. The one that stood out the most was Naruto. I didn't know why, but he looked like he was about to cry. _**(SE's random note: Hey, that rhymes! Okay, back to the story…)**_

"Sophia, are you okay?" Neji asked again.

I looked at him and blushed. He was the closest one to me, sitting on a chair right next to the bed I was lying on. My head throbbed.

"Wh-What's going on?" I asked.

"Eh, looks like you don't remember," Sakura said. "You were knocked out by these two."

She pointed to Rock Lee and Naruto. I was still confused.

"How?" I asked another question. "I mean, how could I have been knocked out by them?"

Everyone sighed.

"Looks like I'll have to explain," Sakura said.

* * *

**(Sakura's perspective – one hour before)**

School had ended. I thought there was going to be at least one fight, but oddly enough, there wasn't… yet. It wasn't until I saw a group of girls and guys from the higher classes crowded around something, that I realized that I was totally wrong.

"Hey, Sakura!" Ino yelled to me.

She was already in the crowd, Hinata standing right next to her. I ran over to them.

"Who is it this time?" I asked.

"It's Naruto and Lee," Ino replied.

My eyes widened. Lee was fighting Naruto!? But how!? And plus, didn't he have soccer practice at this time?

"Why is he fighting Naruto at this time? Doesn't he have soccer practice?"

"It seems as if he skipped it," Neji answered as he walked up to us.

"Neji-nii-san," Hinata said.

"Hello," he said as he bowed.

Ino and I bowed too. "H-Hello, Neji-senpai."

I'm sure someone's wondering why we called him "senpai." It's mostly because he's vice president; the other part is because he was a year older than us. Our class was mixed with the 9th and 10th graders. Anyways…

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Since yesterday, Lee's been pretty mad at Naruto," he answered. "I should've known it would've ended up like this. Lee took control of the situation in his own way."

I looked at the fight. It seemed as if Lee was actually winning. Naruto looked beat up enough, but something about Lee was off. He didn't have the "fire" that he usually had in his eyes. Instead, it was something of anger… maybe jealousy? That couldn't have been it.

My thoughts were interrupted by several gasps from the front. I wondered what had happened. As I stretched on my tiptoes to observe, I saw that Lee had been kicked to the ground by Naruto. He had coughed up a little bit of blood, but it was enough to make me even gasp.

"Lee-san!" I whispered.

A few minutes passed, and it got worse. Naruto and Lee looked like they were at their limit.

"It's the finishing blow," I heard Neji mumble. "Now, we'll see who has the most endurance."

I nodded my head in agreement. _Lee-san! Beat Naruto to a bloody pulp!_*

Lee and Naruto had knocked each other to the ground. Both of them got up, determination in their eyes. And then, without any hesitation, both ran at one another; however, Sophia-lincho got in the way. Before anyone could do anything, and the two boys could stop their attack, Sophia was sent flying backwards.

It wasn't until I realized that Neji-senpai was gone from behind me, that I heard a grunting noise just before Sophia-lincho hit the ground. Neji had caught her in mid-air.

"Sophia, are you okay?" Neji asked her as he laid her on the ground

"Sophia-lincho!" Lee and Naruto yelled as they ran towards her.

Ino dragged me and Hinata over to Sophia's unconscious body. I was kind of scared; after all, nothing like this had happened to her since we were in elementary school.

"Hey, is she okay?" Naruto asked.

Neji nodded his head. "She's fine. But we should take her to the nurse just incase."

He picked up Sophia and walked towards the nurse's office. Hinata went with him and opened up the door. Meanwhile, Ino and I dragged Naruto and Lee to the office too. They looked like they had just gotten out of a car accident. And plus, they needed to apologize to Sophia-lincho.

* * *

**(Sophia's perspective)**

"And that's what happened," Sakura finished.

I fell back on the bed. _I was that stupid? What was I thinking?_

"But I have a question," Ino said. "Sophia-lincho, why did you get in the way?"

I had to think about that one for a bit. Why did I do that? Then it hit me! No, not literally.

"Because Naruto-kun would've lost by default," I answered.

Everyone just stared at me like I was a psycho that had just escaped prison.

"What are you talking about, Sophia?" Neji asked.

I pointed at Naruto's shoelace. "His shoe was untied. He would've tripped, and Lee would've won. That would not have been fair."

They all collapsed.

"That's the only reason?" Sakura queried.

"Yeah, I guess," I replied.

Without any pause, Naruto and Lee started laughing. I could feel a pulse mark appear on the back of my head.

"Well, as long as you're okay," Neji sighed.

I looked at him and blushed.

"She is okay, right?" Hinata finally spoke.

I turned to look at Shizune, the school nurse.

"Yes, she'll be fine if she doesn't do that again," Shizune answered as she eyed me.

A nervous laugh came from my mouth.

"That reminds me, I better take you home," Neji said as he got up.

"Yeah, it's time for us to get home, too," the others said.

"Hinata-sama, will you be okay walking by yourself?" Neji inquired.

"Yeah, besides, I have to pick up Hanabi from school."

"Okay, then."

Neji helped me up. It seemed that he had grabbed my bag while I was knocked out. I thanked him, glad he was so considerate.

* * *

**(Neji's perspective)**

I decided to walk Sophia home from school. Something inside me told me that it might be bad if she walked by herself, considering she had just recovered from an attack from two complete idiots.

"Sophia, why are you trying to help Naruto?" I asked when we were a few blocks closer to her apartment.

She didn't say anything for a while. When I looked at her, her head was bowed, and I couldn't read the expression on her at all. Finally, she answered. "Because he's… like me…"

I stared at her in disbelief. What in the world was she talking about?

"Sophia, I don't understand."

She just sighed. "I looked at his records while I was helping Tsunade-dono organize her office today. Naruto-kun's an orphan, too."

Instinctively, I turned to look at her. "Are you sure?"

She just nodded her head, still not looking up at me. I hated that she wouldn't show me her face. It was as if we were in elementary school again. After a second, I stared ahead again.

"Neji-kun, you understand, too, what it's like, right?" Sophia asked.

My hands clenched together. _Why did she have to bring that up?_ I sighed. I guessed there was no way out of it anyway. She knew me all ready.

"Right," I answered as I turned my head away.

"Ah, gomen*; I didn't mean to bring back anything, Neji-kun."

Sophia's voice was so… sympathetic. I couldn't stand it. It made me feel guilty about nothing. "You didn't do anything wrong, Sophia. I'm fine."

Just to make her feel satisfied, I pasted a smile on my face. She turned her head, and I swear I saw her face turn red.

Minutes passed by, filled by worthless talk, until we reached her apartment. Before Sophia opened the door, she turned to look at me and smiled.

"Thank you for walking me home, Neji-kun," she said. "I appreciate it."

Without even knowing it, I blushed. She walked inside, miraculously not noticing it. I let a huge gulp of air escape my lips. And for some reason, at that moment, I felt like we were kids again.

* * *

**(Sophia's Perspective)**

_Screams of terror._

_A man at the door with red eyes._

_A blood-stained carpet._

_A girl, covered with so much blood, broken and torn._

Could that be me?

_A knife heads toward the girl and then…_

_

* * *

_Sorry about the cliff-hanger. Well, it seems like that now, anyway. Here's the stuff for the asterisks:

1._ If it were my second day at Konoha high..._ Okay, for those of you who have short-term memory loss or are just plain stupid, no offense, Naruto's first day at school was when he was with Tsunade, Shizune, and Kakashi. That's why he says second day.

2. Ohayo gozaimasu - It just means good morning with respect.

3. _Lee-san! Beat Naruto to a bloody pulp!_ - Since most of you, I hope, know the show Naruto, then you know this is the inner-Sakura's thoughts.

4. _Gomen _- It means "I'm sorry."

That's all for now, folks. Please, send me reviews. No flairs though!!!

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	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, people! Sorry for not updating in a while! Research reports, tests, report cards - which reminds me, I got all A's and one B! Whooh! I will try and catch up to whatever chapter I was supposed to be on right now. But this chapter should make up for it since it's one of the longest chapters I've ever written.  
**

**

* * *

~Chapter 5 – Great… Cheerleading Tryouts Again~**

_Screams of terror…_

_A man stands at the door…_

_A girl covered in blood sits in the corner…_

Isn't that me?

_The man appears behind the girl and puts a knife to her throat…_

_No time to escape…_

Sophia jumped up with a gasp. She turned off the alarm clock, her savior from a not-so-happy ending of a nightmare. There was a knock on her door.

"Sophia, are you awake yet?" Kakashi's muffled voice asked.

He waited for an answer. Nothing. He sighed before he opened the door. When he looked in, there was Sophia on her bed, no emotions in her eyes.

"Did you have that dream again?" Kakashi asked.

Sophia just nodded her head. There was a brief silence before Sophia spoke.

"However, the ending was different."

"Different?"

"This time, the man didn't throw the knife at the little girl; instead, he appeared behind her and held the knife to her neck. I would've been horrified had it not been for my alarm clock."

"Your own personal god?"

"In the mornings… Daytime and nighttime are not the same."

The two laughed.

"Sophia, you should hurry up and take a shower."

"Right."

Sophia rolled out of her bed and ran into her bathroom. After she closed the door, she slid to the ground and put her head between her knees. _It's been three nights in a row that I've had that nightmare. Why do I keep on having them?_

Sophia lifted her head up and wished she hadn't. The bathroom was filled with blood. She buried her head again and started crying.

Kakashi was outside the door, listening to Sophia's cry. He clenched his fist.

"Sophia."

* * *

**(Naruto's Perspective)**

I yawned as I walked into homeroom. As I sat down, I felt the cold stares at me again. _W-Why does this keep happening to me? _

"Yo, Naruto," Shikamaru greeted.

"Hey, Shikamaru," I said.

We chatted a bit before the bell rang. Kakashi-sensei was late, as usual. I glanced around the room mindlessly, a little bit bored. My eyes stopped at a seat where someone should've been sitting.

"H-Hey, Shikamaru, where's Sophia-lincho?" I asked.

"No idea," he replied. "It's rare for her to be late. Maybe you should ask Neji. He's one of the closest people to her."

I just stared at him like he was a complete idiot.

"W-Why are you staring at me like that?"

"You really think he would answer me? For all I know, he probably hates me as much as most of the people at this school."

"Naruto, I can hear you," Neji replied out of nowhere.

I looked behind me, scared out of my wits. The guy was like a ghost. I didn't even know he was in the classroom.

"And to answer your question, I honestly don't know where she is," he sighed.

I watched Neji closely. For some odd reason, he looked weird – er – than before. His expression was worrisome. _Could it be that he's worried about Sophia-lincho? _

An idea came to my mind as a slick smile spread across my face.

"You're not worried about Sophia-lincho, are you, Neji?" I asked.

Bingo! His face turned completely red.

"Of course not! It's just that she's never been late for school and…"

"Neji, give it a rest," someone interrupted. "That idiot will never understand."

Crap, it was _him_. I glared at Sasuke. "Who's the idiot?"

"You, of course."

I felt a pulse mark appear on the back of my head. "Why you…"

"Yo, everyone," Kakashi-sensei greeted as he appeared out of nowhere.

Surprising every time I see it. After Kakashi-sensei said hi to us, the door opened. We all stared at Sophia as she came in and sat down at her desk. I checked her expression over and over again. That wasn't the usual Sophia. The girl that had just come in was totally different. Like an empty shell.

"Sophia," I heard Neji say behind me.

Kakashi-sensei had started the lesson all ready, but I just couldn't stop staring at Sophia. What happened to her? She had been almost like that for two days.

**

* * *

(Sophia's Perspective)**

I don't how, but for some reason I fell asleep in first period, and the nightmare began again.

"Sophia, class is over."

I opened my eyes to see Neji standing in front of my desk. Everyone else had just gone out the door.

"Sorry, I guess I didn't get enough sleep last night," I apologized, letting a fake smile appear.

Unfortunately, it didn't look like he bought it.

"Well, if you don't hurry, you'll be late again to our next class," Neji said as he walked out the door.

I looked at the clock.

"Ah! I'm going to be late!"

And with that, I took off. I ran to my classroom as quickly as I could.

"Sophia-lincho, wait up!" Sakura yelled.

I stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned to face her. "What is it?"

"Look, cheerleading tryouts are going to be tomorrow afternoon!"

"Oh, I almost forgot! Let's sign up, Sakura."

Before one of us could even grab a hold of a pen, we heard the most annoying laugh in the world. Who could it have been? None other than Karin.

"Sophia-chan, Forehead-chan*, you crack me up," she cackled as she and her posse passed everyone. "Do you really think you have a chance in the tryouts?"

_Why that little…_ "I'm guessing you're trying out, Karin?"

"Of course," she said as she skipped the both of us and signed her name.

I could feel Sakura's aura beside me. It was a dark aura, too, probably the same as mine. We both despised Karin as much as the whole entire school. Little miss "I'm way better than you" was the most annoying person in the whole world – scratch that – I mean, the whole entire UNIVERSE.

"We'll see about that," Sakura muttered, cursing under her breath.

I laughed before looking at the clock. "Ah! Sakura-chan, we're going to be late!"

She looked at the clock, too, and yelped. We both took off to the classroom. I slammed the door open once we got there, and the two of us ran to our seats.

"Wow, this is the first time I've seen Sophia-lincho run into a classroom," Chouji said to Shikamaru.

"Yeah, you're right," Shikamaru replied.

"Run into the 'Ice Princess' again, you two?" TenTen asked us.

Sakura nodded. I could feel the rage inside me bubble up at the reformation to Karin's name.

"Why that ugly, little Miss Priss thinks she's the best in the world," I mumbled as I cracked my knuckles. "I swear, the next time I see her, I'll –"

Interrupting my sentence mid-way, the bell rang for second period.

"Yosh, everyone, it's time to pair up!" Anko yelled as she kicked the door open.

All of us just hid our faces, embarrassed _for _her.

"Today, in Home Ec., we'll be baking sweets for me – I mean for the basketball team. So, go ahead and pick out a partner."

"D-Darn it, we're actually cooking," I whined.

Everyone got up out of their seats and ran to different people; to anyone but me. Home economics was my worst class. My cooking was horrible. Not even Chouji would eat it.

"Well, Sophia, Naruto, it looks like you two are the only ones without partners," Anko said after the partners were picked out.

I glared back at Neji and TenTen. They tensed up and laughed nervously.

"S-Sorry, Sophia-lincho, but you know I'm almost as bad as you at cooking," TenTen apologized.

A pulse mark appeared on my head. "Hey, my cooking's not that bad."

Neji stifled a laugh. I glared at him again. He stopped and faced a different direction.

"You didn't want me to be your partner either, did you?" I asked him.

At first, he was completely motionless. Then he spoke. "Y-Yeah; sorry, Sophia, but I can't get a bad grade in this class."

"So you left me?"

Chouji laughed along with Shikamaru.

"You couldn't have helped me either, Chouji?!" I snapped as I glared at him.

They both paused and turned away. I hung my head and tried to calm down.

"Hey, what's wrong with Sophia-lincho's cooking?" I heard Naruto ask someone.

"Nothing is wrong with my cooking!" I moaned as I plopped on my seat.

"Okay, okay, calm down," Anko interrupted.

"Hai," the rest of the class said in unison.

"Naruto, good luck," Shikamaru whispered to him.

My eyes were like daggers as I turned to him. He just laughed nervously and waved. _Someday, Shikamaru, you'll be wishing you weren't a smartass… _

Anko gave us the directions and sent us to work. I had no idea what to do. True, I was a straight A student, but cooking was the thing that I had to have help on. Right then I wished Neji were my partner. I didn't know if Naruto even knew what a measuring cup was.

"Hey, Naruto-kun, have you ever cooked before?" I asked him.

He hesitated for a second. "Um, does cooking ramen count?"

My head hit the disk. _I'm hopeless… T.T_

"Sophia, just follow the directions," Neji whispered to me. "And you'll be fine."

I nodded my head in an understanding way. I grabbed the piece of paper and looked at the first step. "Okay, it says to take a cup of flour and pour it into the bowl."

"I can do that," Naruto said as he took the measuring cup.

_Maybe I will be okay._ Little did I know, my thoughts would go against me.

**

* * *

(Naruto's Perspective)**

We all rushed out Home Ec. Smoke was billowing from the room. _Did Sophia and I make a mistake with the minutes?_ Now, the smoke was not from a huge fire. It was just from the burning cookies in the oven. Sophia had suggested we put the cookies a few degrees higher than what was on the directions to get it cooked faster. I learned to never ask her for cooking tips again. The oven started smoking after a few minutes. Sophia tried to blow the fire out, but that only made it bigger.

Once we all got out of the room, Anko-sensei ran and got a fire extinguisher. She sprayed it onto the small fire. "Is everyone all right?" We all nodded as she sighed. "Good; Sophia, Naruto, what were you thinking?"

*Sophia and Naruto: sweatdrop*

I looked at Sophia. She was smiling, trying her hardest to look innocent.

"W-Well," she started out, "it wasn't my fault, really; after all, you never really put how high the temperature should be on the directions."

Anko-sensei blankly stared at us. "And you expect me to buy that? Everyone else didn't burn theirs."

"Sophia-lincho, come up with something better," I whispered.

"I'm trying," Sophia replied. She thought for a minute before I saw her face light up. Hopefully it would be something really worth buying. "What if I got the cheerleaders to bake a few dozen cookies for you, Anko-sensei?"

Anko-sensei's face, once looking like she was going to fail us, became emotionless, and I swear I saw her eyebrow twitch. Something told me she really liked that deal. "Fine," she sighed.

BINGO! I heard Sophia sigh, and I sighed, too, though it was a mental one. A few of our classmates giggled.

"All right, home ec. is over for today," Anko told us. "I have to get this kitchen cleaned up. You can hang around the school while you're waiting for the bell to ring. Just don't leave campus. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," we all answered.

As I walked away, I heard Anko-sensei mumble something like, "Now where's that damn janitor?"

**

* * *

(Sophia's Perspective)**

I stared at the clock, waiting for the last bell to ring. Yesterday was a total humiliation in second period. I wanted to get to the tryouts before the witch – I mean Karin – got there. She would never let me, Sakura, and Ino into the locker rooms to change. And even if we did get in, she'd just try to find ways to mess us up during the tryouts. My eyes glanced at the clock one more time. _Five, four, three, two…_

"RRRRIIIINNNNGGG!!!"

"All right, you're dismissed," Asuma-sensei said nonchalantly.

"Sakura, Ino, come on!" I yelled as I ran out the door. "We've got to get there before…"

"Yeah, yeah, we know," Ino replied as the two caught up to me.

"I swear, if she calls me 'Forehead-chan' again, I'll beat the crap out of her!" Sakura rampaged.

Ino and I laughed. Luckily, we got to the locker room before _she_ got there. After everyone got dressed, Coach Kurenai came in and took attendance. She told us to go to the gym and stretch out.

+++++O+++++

"So you three actually came?" Karin asked us as we did some squats.

"Of course," I mimicked the Karin from the day before. "Just because your face is ugly, doesn't mean you'd scare us off."

I saw her face turn red, and I wished that I had a camera. Ino and Sakura tried not to laugh. Another girl had said, "Burn!" which made Karin's face turn redder than before. This was one of the greatest moments of my life.

"All right, everyone!" Coach called us all together. "If all of you would have a seat, and I'll call you up one at a time. What you'll do, for our freshman who have never seen our tryouts before, is just show off a little. Just do a little cheer, and I'll decide whether or not you're cheerleader material. Got it?"

"Got it!" all of us cheered.

"Okay, first up is…."

It was a while before she called Ino's name. She got up and sighed; I guessed she was nervous.

"It'll be fine, Ino," I relieved her.

"Show them up, Ino-pig," Sakura added.

Ino's face went red after Sakura called her that. Those two were still calling each other names even though they were the best of friends. Ino walked up to Kurenai-sensei and faced the crowd.

"We got it all together, We're fighting for a win." She clapped. "Konoha Shinobi –" She clapped again. "On top again!"

Ino turned around and did a few back flips, landing the last one with a split.

Most of the girls, except for Karin and her posse who just sneered, stood up and cheered for Ino. "Way to go!"

"I guess that means you're a cheerleader, Ms. Yamanaka," Kurenai told her before she sat down.

Ino couldn't believe it. Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped. That was the second time I wished I had brought my camera.

"All right, on to the next girl!"

Sakura and I had to wait a couple of people before it was Karin's turn. I didn't want to watch it, but something told me to watch just incase she somehow managed to embarrass herself. I listened to it.

"We are the Shinobi, And we can't be beat Because we got the power To knock you off your feet!"

She ran forward and did a cart wheel, unfortunately landing it. Then she did a hand stand on one hand and smirked at me and Sakura. I would've slapped her right there and then if it weren't for Kurenai-sensei watching us. Karin landed on one foot and did a twirl to finish off. A lot of the girls, including her posse, stood up and cheered. Ino, Sakura, and I just sat there and clapped solemnly. We would have to do _way_ better.

"All right, Karin, you're in," Kurenai announced. "Next up is Haruno, Sakura!"  
"Go, Sakura!" Ino and I said.

Sakura nodded and walked down to the coach. She breathed in before starting.

"Clear-view." She paused. "Let's go! We'll prepare for victory. We'll put you to the test. We'll fight for Konoha High, The school that's better than the best!"

Sakura turned and did a toe-touch jump. Once she landed, she did a few back handsprings. To end her tumbles*, she did a front hurdler. Everyone stood up and cheered for Sakura, all except little miss you-know-who.

"Sakura, that was amazing!" I told her when she sat down.

She blushed. "N-No, it wasn't anything at all. I bet you'll do better."

Right after she said that, Kurenai-sensei called my name.

"Hai!" I replied.

I stepped down and looked back up at Sakura and Ino. The two had their thumbs up and were smiling. Idiots…

I sighed, just like Ino and Sakura had done. Now I knew why they were so nervous; there were a whole bunch of girls in the gym. Well, all's well that ends well.

"S is for Super

U is for Unique

P is for Perfect, 'cause you know we're sweet.

E is for Enthusiasm

R is for Rap

So come on all you Shinobi fans,

And, dang, stand back!"

During the cheer, I had done some hand motions (which seemed to have worked out) and some dance moves. All I had to now was beat Karin at her game. I ran forward and did a hand spring, twirling in the air and landing perfectly. I did a back flip, followed by a roundoff, and finished with a Pike. However, when I did the Pike, I almost tripped. But when I glanced at the crowd, nobody seemed to have noticed. So I landed with a huge smile on my face and blew a kiss to the crowd. At first the crowd was totally silent. That made me think that maybe they did notice. But after a second, they all stood up and screamed at the top of their lungs. Sakura and Ino were waving their hands in the air. Karin and her posse were scowling at me. Even Kurenai-sensei was amazed.

"Sophia, that was one of the best cheers I've seen today," she told me as I walked up to her. "You're in."

My mouth fell open. No way! I was a cheerleader! I walked back up to my seat, but not before I stopped by Karin and stuck my tongue out at her. She gasped and turned away.

"Sophia-lincho, you were…. I don't even have words to describe it!" Sakura said.

Ino nodded in agreement. "She's right. If you don't make it as captain, I'm sure you'll be co-captain."

"I wouldn't say that," I replied. "I'll probably just be the person on the bottom of the pyramid."

"Okay, everyone," Kurenai got our attention one more time. "We've decided who will be the captain and co-captain. Your co-captain for the remainder of the year will be…. Hatake, Sophia."

I jumped up. "Are you kidding me!? No! T-That's great!"

Some girls giggled at me.

"Sophia-chan, could you sit down please?" Kurenai asked.

I blushed and sat down. I heard Karin say something like, "That's what she gets." I just made a face at her and started talking to Sakura and Ino.

"All right!" Kurenai got our attention again. "The captain for the rest of the year is… Tayuya*!"

"All right, Tayuya-chan!" a girl yelled.

Tayuya, an 11th grader, stood up and screamed. "Now I know what Sophia felt like!"

We all laughed along with her. I looked at Karin for half a second and wished – for the third time – that I had my camera. Her face was priceless! She was fuming smoke out of her ears. I guess she thought she was going to be captain. Serves her right.

After all of us were dismissed, a huge herd of girls rushed out of the gym. Sakura and Ino went ahead of me because they had to finish a project for history class. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going until I felt someone tug at my arms and pull me away from the crowd. My eyes met Neji's eyes.

"Neji-kun?"

He just smiled and leaned on the wall. "I, um, I need help with…"

Neji didn't finish his sentence. I waited for a moment for him to get some words out. "Yes?"

He hesitated. "I need help with English, and you were the first person that came to mind that could help me."

I stared at him. It took me some time to regain my composure. "S-Sure! Um, how 'bout this Friday?"

Neji nodded his head with a grin. "I'd like that."

"Your house?"

"I thought you didn't like coming to my house because of my uncle."

"If we're just going to be in Hinata's or your room, I'll be fine."

"Okay then." He started walking down the hall way to a door that was only used for emergencies. "Oh, and nice job making it as co-captain."

I blushed. That afternoon, I went home with the biggest smile I'd had in a while. But tomorrow, that smile would go away.

* * *

**Whoah, talk about a long chapter... It took me forever to write. Anyways, here are some phrases and words that some of you might need.**

"Sophia-chan, **Forehead-chan**........" **- That was Sakura's nickname, remember? Yeah, you're probably getting your memory back now, huh...**

*Sophia and Naruto: Sweatdrop* **- This just means it's like an anime moment.**

tumbles **- In case some of you aren't into cheerleading (like me), tumbles are just tricks and all that jazz.**

"....Tayuya*!" **- Again, if you forgot, Tayuya is one of the Sound Five. I liked her a lot, so I put her in. Yeah, I know she doesn't seem like the cheerleading type, but just pretend.**

**Hope you all enjoyed! Please review! I absolutely love reviews. Oh, and happy Valentine's Day!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Ah, gomen, gomen, everyone! I didn't mean to be away this long. But, this chapter kind of took me a long time to write. I'll explain that to you at the bottom because I don't want to spoil anything at the moment since I worked really hard on this chapter. Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

**"Chapter 6 – And I Thought This Day Couldn't Get Worse"**

**(Sasuke's Perspective)**

I woke up to the same old empty house. I had the same old breakfast, a piece of toast and a glass of milk. After I finished, I grabbed my bag and walked off to school. Even before I took five steps, Sakura called.

"Sasuke-kun! Wait up!"  
I sighed. Well, it was way better than walking with Karin… and a little better than Ino.

"So, I hear we have a quiz in chemistry today," Sakura said, probably wanting to stop the silence.

"Hn," I replied nonchalantly.

There was another brief silence.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun, do you know what's up with Sophia-lincho?"

I sighed. Honestly, I had no idea. Yeah, she had been acting weird lately, but Sakura really expected me to know? "Not really. Maybe Neji would –"

"Sorry, I don't." Neji came from around the corner, Hinata walking right beside him.

"Hey, Hinata, do you?" Sakura asked.

Hinata shook her head. Geez, she rarely ever said anything. She could've at least said a simple "no." The four of us walked to school together. It would've been peaceful the whole trip had it not been for…

"SASUKE-KUN!!!"

The one and only Karin. I sighed. Thankfully, she was in a different class. I swear, one day with her and I'd go insane. Hell, she was worse than that idiot Naruto.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura inquired coldly through narrow eyes.

"I'm here to save Sasuke-kun from the ugly forehead girl," Karin sneered back.

The two started their typical fight. Neji and Hinata had to hold Karin back, while I took Sakura's wrist and started walking towards the school again. Unfortunately, I didn't have a tight enough grip so she got away and started fighting with Karin again.

"Oi, you two, cut it out," Kakashi interrupted the two.

Sakura jumped back, and Karin shut up. Sophia came walking out of her apartment.

"Geez, you two are making such a ruckus at this hour in the morning. I could hear you all the way in my room."

Karin just faced away; Sakura laughed. I sighed. At least Karin and Sakura had finally shut up. I started walking off towards school one more time. I could hear them start up a conversation behind me.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, it's rare to see you walking to school," Sakura commented.

"Well…" Kakashi started out.

"His car broke down yesterday," Sophia finished.

"You don't have to make it sound like I tried to make it break," Kakashi told her.

"I know. It's just funny to see your expression."

Sophia laughed. We made it to the school in one piece. Karin had met up with her friends and went to her class.

"I've got to go talk to Tsunade-dono, so I'll see you kids in class," Kakashi said as he walked off.

"He's just making up an excuse to read that stupid book of his," Sophia muttered after he was gone.

Ever since the year had started, we had seen Kakashi with this book called "Make Out Paradise" which he would always keep in his desk.

"Well, we better get going," Sophia said.

"Yep," Sakura, Hinata, and Neji agreed.

I just laid my arms behind my head and strolled off to a different direction.

"And where do you think you're going, Sasuke?" Sophia asked me.

"Where do you think? I'm going to the bathroom."

"Smartass," Sophia grumbled.

I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at that remark.

**

* * *

(Naruto's POV)**

"Run, run, run, run, RUN!!!" I yelled as I weaved between people in the hall. I was running late… well, later than usual. I had forgotten to set my alarm clock, and Konohamaru had awakened late too. As I made it to the doors of my classroom, I could feel the evil stares again. _Damn it… Can't they stare at somebody else for a change?_ I slammed the door open and sprinted to my seat. The bell rang right as I sat down.

"Lucky you, Naruto-kun," Sophia greeted me. "You made it on time."

"Yeah, lucky me." I sank into my seat.

"All right, class," Kakashi – surprisingly arriving earlier than expected – interrupted, "today is a special day. Why is it special, you may ask? Because you get to perform a song for the rest of the class and a few other classes this afternoon."

Everyone moaned. My head hit the desk hard. This couldn't be happening. I was the worst singer in the entire universe! He couldn't actually expect me to sing, could he? _Kami, why? Just why have you forsaken me?_

"You'll spend the rest of this hour and part of next hour practicing," Kakashi said. "Last period will be the performance. It'll be fine. You're not the only class. The other classes have to do this to."

The rest of the class groaned.

"If you participate in the event, I'll raise your grade up."

We all sparked up. I heard some of the girls cheer, and even Sasuke and Neji – who I thought would never do this – smiled.

"So, you can go ahead and pick a song from any of these CDs, and if you have one of your own, you can sing from that too."

Sophia raised her hand; and, after being acknowledged by Kakashi, asked, "Can we also use an instrument?"

Some of the others asked that too. Finally, Kakashi-sensei answered with a sigh, "I guess. But you can only use a guitar or the piano."

"Yosh!" Sophia cheered.

Most of us got out of our seats and went to look at the CDs. I certainly didn't know how to play an instrument, so I just chose whatever song I wanted from those. My eyes quickly scanned the names of the artists on the CDs. One CD caught my eye, and I immediately grabbed it. The artist I had picked up was Linkin Park. _Maybe one of these songs will be okay…_

**

* * *

(Sophia's POV)**

First period and second period passed by very slowly. I hated that Kakashi-sempai was making us sing. Well, it was probably Tsunade-dono's fault. I sighed. I was just happy things couldn't get worse.

"Yo, Sophia, are you still coming tomorrow?" Neji asked me as he leaned on the locker next to mine.

I smiled and nodded me head. "Of course! I wouldn't let you down."

A tiny smile spread on his face. I blushed. Whenever I saw that angelic face, I…

"Sophia-lincho, if you don't hurry, you'll be late to third period," TenTen interrupted my thoughts.

I noticed Neji was gone, much to my displeasure. Sakura and Ino stuck their tongues out at me.

"He already went to class," TenTen answered my unspoken question.

My face turned different shades of red. "What would make you think I'm wondering where he is?" I lied as I crossed my arms and looked away.

"Oh, come on, Sophia," Ino replied. "We all know that you like Neji. It's _so_ obvious."

"Whatever," I retorted as I walked to class. "Now, come on; we're going to be late."

The three looked at the clock then sped past me. I couldn't help but laugh at them.

Time seemed to fly by _VERY_ quickly. It was all ready last hour. None of us could believe it. I walked among Neji, Sakura, Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke to the gym. Apparently, that's where we would be performing.

"Okay, everyone," Tsunade said as soon as all of us had gathered. "Here's the list for who's singing when. Make sure you've got everything ready. And whenever you want to start, just nod your head at Kakashi-sensei and he'll play the music."

"Hai," everyone responded.

We all went to look at the list. Thank Kami, I was last. I scanned the list again to see which person from our class would be going first. _Eh? Naruto-kun is first? Geez… I hope he'll be fine up there._

After a few minutes, Shizune came to us and told everyone to sit down. The show was going to start soon. A few people from the other classes went first, and then it was Naruto's turn. I crossed my fingers and prayed that Naruto would be okay. The music started, and I shot my head up. The song that was playing was one of my favorites. Naruto started,

_"I am a little bit of loneliness, a little bit of disregard_

_Handful of complaints, but I can't help the fact_

_That everyone can see these scars_

_I am what I want you to want; I want you to feel,_

_But it's like no matter what I do_

_I can't convince you to just believe this is real_

_So I let go watching you; turn your back_

_Like you always do; face away and pretend that I'm not_

_But I'll be here 'cause you're all that I've got_

_I can't feel the way I did before; don't turn your back on me_

_I won't be ignored. Time won't heal this damage anymore_

_Don't turn your back on me; I won't be ignored._

_I am a little bit insecure, a little unconfident_

_'Cause you don't understand, I do what I can_

_But sometimes I don't make sense._

_I am what you never want to say but I've never_

_Had a doubt; it's like no matter what I do_

_I can't convince you for once just to hear me out_

_So I let go watching you; turn your back_

_Like you always do; face away and pretend that I'm not_

_But I'll be here 'cause you're all that I've got_

_I can't feel the way I did before; don't turn you back on me_

_I won't be ignored. Time can't heal this damage anymore_

_Don't turn your back on me; I won't be ignored."_

I stood up when the next part came and started head-banging, knowing that some of the others (like Kiba, Sakura, TenTen, and Ino) would join in.

_"No, hear me out now! You're gonna listen to me_

_Like it or not! Right now! Hear me out now!_

_You're gonna listen to me like it or not! Right now!_

_I can't feel the way I did before; don't turn your back on me_

_I won't be ignored. Time won't heal this damage anymore_

_Don't turn your back on me I won't be ignored._

_I can't feel; don't turn your back on me; I won't be ignored._

_Time won't heal; don't turn your back on me_

_I WON'T BE IGNORED!"_

The whole entire crowd went wild. Hoots and hollers were heard everywhere throughout the school. Even some of the seniors and juniors were outside listening.

As Naruto scampered off the stage, Sakura and I went to go congratulate him.

"Naruto, you were freaking awesome!" I told him.

He blushed and hid his face. "T-Thank you."

Sakura and I just smiled and walked back with him to our seats in the audience.

"All right, next we have Inuzuka Kiba!" Tsunade announced.

I turned around and cheered, "Go, Kiba!"

Kiba came out on stage with a guitar in his hands. I knew his song was going to be awesome. Kiba was the greatest guitarist I had ever heard in my life. He started out,

_"She says she's no good with words but I'm worse  
Barely stuttered out  
A joke of a romantic stuck to my tongue  
Weighed down with words too overdramatic  
Tonight it's "it can't get much worse"  
Vs. "no one should ever feel like..."_

_I'm two quarters and a heart down  
And I don't want to forget how your voice sounds  
These words are all I have so I'll write them  
So you need them just to get by_

_Dance, Dance  
We're falling apart to half time  
Dance, Dance  
And these are the lives you love to lead  
Dance, this is the way they'd love  
If they knew how misery loved me_

_You always fold just before you're found out  
Drink up it's last call  
Last resort  
But only the first mistake and I..._

_I'm two quarters and a heart down  
And I don't want to forget how your voice sounds  
These words are all I have so I'll write them  
So you need them just to get by."_

At that point, Kiba stopped playing his guitar and made a beat. First, he stomped his foot. Then, he clapped his hands, stomped his foot twice, and clapped again. We all followed.

_"Why don't you show me a little bit of spine  
You've been saving for his mattress, love."_

He began playing his guitar again.

_"Dance, Dance  
We're falling apart to half time  
Dance, Dance  
And these are the lives you love to lead  
Dance, this is the way they'd love  
If they knew how misery loved me_

_Why don't you show me a little bit of spine  
You've been saving for his mattress (mattress, mattress)  
I only want sympathy in the form of you crawling into bed with me_

_Dance, Dance  
We're falling apart to half time  
Dance, Dance  
And these are the lives you love to lead  
Dance, this is the way they'd love  
Dance, this is the way they'd love  
Dance, this is the way they'd love  
If they knew how misery loved me_

_Dance, Dance  
Dance, Dance  
Dance, Dance  
Dance, Dance."_

Everyone went into an uproar. "I knew Kiba would do great!" I yelled to Hinata. She nodded her head in agreement.

After a few more people, it was finally Sakura's turn. I had wondered what she was going to sing. Her voice was beautiful when she tried. I just hoped Karin wouldn't try and mess her up. _Oh, good, she's not in the classes that are here. I almost forgot…_

Sakura got up on stage and smiled. She nodded her head at Kakashi-sempai. Sakura began,

_"I know your kind of girl  
You only care about one thing  
Who you've seen or where you've been  
Who's got money  
I see that look in your eyes  
It tells a million lies  
But deep inside I know why  
You're talking to him_

_I know what you're all about  
I really hope he figures it out_

_She's one of those girls  
Nothing but trouble  
Just one look and now you're seeing double  
Before you know it she'll be gone  
Off to the next one  
She's so good that you won't see it coming  
She'll take you for a ride and you'll be left with nothing  
You'll be broken, she'll be gone  
Off to the next one_

_Oh Oh, Oh Oh  
Off to the next one  
Oh Oh, Oh Oh_

_She's gonna be the end of you  
At least that's what they say  
It's been a while  
You're in denial, and now it's too late  
The way she looks, it makes you high  
All the warning signs  
Cause her blonde hair, her blue eyes  
It makes you wanna die_

_I know what she's all about  
I really hope you figure it out_

_She's one of those girls  
Nothing but trouble  
Just one look and now you're seeing double  
Before you know it she'll be gone  
Off to the next one  
She's so good that you won't see it coming  
She'll take you for a ride and you'll be left with nothing  
You'll be broken, she'll be gone  
Off to the next one_

_You know it's a game, you know it's a game  
She keeps playing around with your head, playing around with your head  
She's so insane, so insane  
She's the one to blame, she's the one to blame_

_She's one of those girls  
Nothing but trouble  
Just one look and now you're seeing double  
Before you know it she'll be gone  
Off to the next one  
She's so good that you won't see it coming  
She'll take you for a ride and you'll be left with nothing  
You'll be broken, she'll be gone  
Off to the next one_

_Oh Oh, Oh Oh  
Off to the next one  
Oh Oh, Oh Oh  
Off to the next one."_

When the song was finished, I noticed there was a bigger crowd than when we first began. It was amazing. I sighed. _It's_ _only a few more minutes until I sing _our _song. Please, be listening…_

**

* * *

(Naruto's POV)**

I thought I had fallen in love. Not only was Sakura beautiful, but she could sing too! Maybe Kami-sama hadn't forsaken me.

More people sang from the other classes. Then there came Lee, followed by Chouji and then TenTen. I noticed Sasuke (the damned bastard) go up on stage. This would be a sight to see. I bet he couldn't sing. A smirk appeared on my face. However, Teme* was better than I thought.

_"The mercury lamp light that floated on the night road  
Somehow blurs even without tears_

_My black shadow hidden by the night road  
Somehow speeds up even without compassion_

_The scent of one more tear  
Draws nearer, draws nearer  
Draws nearer, draws nearer_

_One more uncertainty of the heart  
Runs from me, I chase it  
Runs from me, it passes me by_

_One, two shadows overlap  
Piercing through my chest  
The two shadows melt in the mercury lamp-lit night_

_The mercury lamp light that floated on the night road  
Somehow blurs even without tears_

_My black shadow hidden by the night road  
Somehow speeds up even without compassion_

_The scent of one more tear  
Draws nearer, draws nearer  
Draws nearer, draws nearer_

_One more uncertainty of the heart  
Runs from me, I chase it  
Runs from me, it passes me by_

_One, two shadows overlap  
Piercing through my chest  
The two shadows melt in the mercury lamp-lit night."*_

_Holy_ crap… _Teme can _sing_!? _All of the girls (and literally _all_ of the girls) stood up and cheered. No, they didn't just cheer; they yelled and hollered. Even Hinata and Sophia "whooped" for him.

After about five minutes of applauding, the girls settled down enough to let the next person go up to sing. _The next person… I wonder who that is._

I looked up to see Shikamaru walking to the stage. _What's Shikamaru doing –? _My mouth hung wide open. "N-No way! Shikamaru's singing?"

Sophia stared at me, a little bit confused.

"Of course he's singing," Ino answered, "Well, rapping too, like you! Shikamaru has a really great voice. We weren't going to let him skip out on this one."

I was kind of scared when she smirked after her last sentence. What did they have to do to make Shikamaru sing? I shuddered at the thought. Thankfully, Shikamaru interrupted the after thoughts.

_"The reason why I'm alive I don't wanna know I don't wanna say Even if you want to live Even if you want to die Stones rain down arbitrarily from the sky_

_Even a bug that fell into the mud If you pour water on it It moves again It dreams again I don't know the meaning Of the cross I'm living until today_

_I'm on the wire I'll never go down I just know, just know the answer You're in the fire You'll never get away We have to know, have to know the answer_

_My melted head and my selfishly moving right arm Even if I crush it in my hand And if I trample it underfoot The thing that doesn't vanish is the small desire_

_The painful thing is You love seeing my weakness If you want (my pain) If you want (my head) Everything's thrown into you_

_A crow picks at my rotting knee And so I start walking with just my arms So what you want? So what you say? If it all gets better when you keep praying Then for today only you can be a god So even if you don't revile others The bloodshot world tramples me underfoot That you love me is probably also a lie_

_I'm on the wire I'll never go down I just know, just know the answer You're in the fire You'll never get away We have to know, have to know the answer_

_Telling imaginary lies is the world of me alone Like I'm dreaming The inside of life seems to be smeared with mud Even if you console me with sweet words I walk by myself in disgrace If you want (my pain) If you want (my head) If you wanna be cool You should lie_

_You break down the coffin that I started to make And hit my face as you like So what you want? So what you say? If it all gets better when you keep barking Then for today only you can be a dog A brain split in two is going wild For you my breath dies out If it's the road I chose It's probably a lie_

_I'm on the wire I'll never go down I just know, just know the answer You're in the fire You'll never get away We have to know, have to know the answer_

_I'm on the wire I'll never go down I just know, just know the answer You're in the fire You'll never get away We have to know, have to know the answer_

_The reason why I'm alive I don't wanna know I don't wanna say Even if you want to live Even if you want to die Stones rain down arbitrarily from the sky_

_Even a bug that fell into the mud If you pour water on it It moves again It dreams again I don't know the meaning Of the cross I'm living until today_

_I'm on the wire I'll never go down I just know, just know the answer You're in the fire You'll never get away We have to know, have to know the answer_

_I'm on the wire I'll never go down I just know, just know the answer You're in the fire You'll never get away We have to know, have to know the answer."*_

My mouth hung wide open. There was a short silence before most of the crowd shot up and applauded. _S-Sugoi._

"Shikamaru-kun's _so_ cool," a group of girls said with heart-filled eyes.

"Hey, Sasuke, it seems the girls liked Shikamaru's song better than yours," Neji told him.

I smiled. _Go, Neji. Keep it up!_

Sasuke just smirked and replied, "Like I care. It's just some stupid extra credit crap anyway."

Neji and I glared at him. _Bastard._

"Hinata, are you really not singing?" I heard Sophia ask.

"That's right," Hinata replied, though I could barely hear her.

"But why?" Sakura asked.

"Just leave her alone," Ino said. "I'm not singing either."

"Which is good," Sakura muttered.

"What was that, forehead girl!?"

"You heard me, Ino pig!"

"Guys, guys, don't make a big deal out of it," TenTen interrupted. "Hinata and Ino aren't the only ones that aren't singing. There's also Shino, Nimaru, and Sasunda. So we can't get onto them."

I listened to the names that weren't going to sing. This meant there were only two people from our class left: Neji and Sophia. A smile spread across my face. Neji singing would be a sight to see.

About three or four people sang before Neji got up. I saw Sophia in the corner of my eye clap and cheer, "Go, Neji-kun!" What did she see in him?

Neji smiled when he got on stage. Kiba was up there with his guitar. I wondered what Neji was planning.

_"All the girls and the boys  
And people making noise  
Just let me hear you shout -  
Bring 'em out! Bring 'em out!"_

At that point Kiba strummed a chord.

_"Pump up your fist  
If you twist like this  
'Til the lights go out -  
Bring 'em out! Bring 'em out!_

_All the girls and the boys  
And people making noise  
Just let me hear you shout  
Bring 'em out! Bring 'em out!  
Pump up your fist  
If you twist like this  
'Til the lights go out"_

We all got up and shouted, "Bring 'em out! Bring 'em out!"

_"Katie,  
I don't know why I even try  
'Cause lately  
You're always out with other guys  
Pretty baby  
Don't you know I'll treat you right  
I'll go crazy  
If you pass me up tonight_

_Hey - Hey - Hey Hey!  
Hey - Hey - Hey Hey Hey!_

_All this time can't get it off my mind  
Dance the night away  
Keep rocking with me  
When the grooves alright  
Rocking all night  
I want to hear you say_

_All the girls and the boys  
And people making noise  
Just let me hear you shout:"_

"Bring 'em out! Bring 'em out!"

_"Pump up your fist  
If you twist like this  
'Til the lights go out."_

"Bring 'em out! Bring 'em out!"

_"Wake up  
I'm calling you up I need a ride  
We're gonna shake up  
So hurry it up no wasted time  
The girls in their makeup  
In black and white  
Exchanging looks tonight  
I just ran into some other friends of mine  
Someone's coming 'round to pick them up at nine_

_Hey - Hey - Hey Hey!  
Hey - Hey - Hey Hey Hey!_

_All this time can't get it off my mind  
Dance the night away  
Keep Rocking with me  
When the grooves alright  
Rocking all night  
I want to hear you say  
Hey Hey Hey!_

_All this time can't get it off my mind  
Dance the night away  
Keep Rocking with me  
When the grooves alright  
Rocking all night  
Shake it shake it up until we break it  
We won't stop till we just can't take it_

_Everybody move to the beat  
Come on  
Everybody move to the beat  
Come on  
Everybody rock to the break of dawn  
Everybody else just sing along_

_Everybody move to the beat  
Come on  
Everybody move to the beat  
Come on  
Everybody rock to the break of dawn  
Everybody else just sing along_

_Everybody move to the beat  
Come on  
Everybody move to the beat  
Come on  
Everybody rock to the break of dawn  
Everybody else just sing along_

_Go!_

_All this time can't get it off my mind  
Dance the night away  
When the grooves alright  
Rocking all night  
Wanna hear you say_

_All this time can't get it off my mind  
Dance the night away  
When the grooves alright  
Rocking all night  
Wanna hear you say_

_All the girls and the boys  
And people making noise  
Just let me hear you shout – "_

"Bring 'em out! Bring 'em out!"_  
_

_"Pump up your fist  
If you twist like this  
'Til the lights go out – "_

"Bring 'em out! Bring 'em out!"

_"All the girls and the boys  
And people making noise  
Just let me hear you shout -  
Bring 'em out! Bring 'em out!  
Pump up your fist  
If you twist like this  
'Til the lights go out – "_

"Bring 'em out! Bring 'em out!"

We all clapped and cheered. I was proven wrong... again. Maybe there were a lot of people in class that could sing.

I sighed. Only one more person was left. The grand finale was Sophia. At first the lights went out. Most of us thought that she had run away or something. But finally a spot light shined on Sophia and a piano. She hesitated a little before her hands started to hit notes on the piano.

_"When you say thank you to me,  
for some reason it hurts,  
Like a magic spell that doesn't  
Get undone even after the good bye.  
The faintly burning pain.  
The flavor of life_

_Neither friends nor lovers, in uncertain terms  
Like an un-ripened fruit dreaming about the day of harvest  
Because of being unable to just move one more step forward  
It's just so frustrating_

_When you say thank you to me,  
For some reason it hurts,  
Like a magic spell that doesn't  
Get undone even after the good bye.  
The faintly burning pain.  
The flavor of life."_

Neji, Sakura, Shikamaru, and some other people from our class gasped. I looked at them confused. "What's wrong?"

None of them answered me. I heard Neji say, "She can't be singing about _him_, could she?"

"I never thought she would talk about him again," Sakura said to herself.

What in the world were they talking about? I just shook my head and listened to the rest of Sophia-lincho's song.

_"Sweet talk and tasteless conversations.  
I have no interest in them  
Even when things do not go the way I want them  
You make me believe that there is still something in life_

_When asked 'What's wrong?'  
I answer 'its nothing'  
The smile that disappears after goodbye  
I'm not like myself anymore_

_The more I wish to believe in you,  
For some reason it hurts even more  
'I like you' instead of 'I love you' is more like the person I knew  
The flavor of life_

_I wish I could cherish the white color of the falling snow like I used to  
By the time I would remember the scent of the person I've nearly forgotten_

_A future tender and warmer than a diamond  
I want to grasp it, in this limited time we have, I want to live it with you  
When you say thank you to me,  
For some reason it hurts,  
Like a magic spell that doesn't  
Get undone even after the good bye.  
The faintly burning pain.  
The flavor of life."_

There was a complete silence. It was as if a strange aura had taken over everyone. What in the world was going on? Who was the guy that Sakura-chan and Neji were talking about? There were too many questions going through my head. Finally, someone from the other class got up and started clapping. We all followed. Even if there was something strange going on with everyone else, Sophia-lincho's song was still amazing.

After Sophia-lincho got off the stage, Granny went up. "All right, now it's time to announce which class gets to go on a trip of their choice."

"Eh? This was a competition!?" I asked in surprise.

Tsunade smiled. "Of course! You don't think that you'd perform just to improve your grade do you? I told the teachers to use that excuse to cover up the old one."

_She's never honest, is she?_

"And the winning class is class 1A!"

"Wait, that's our class!" Sophia yelped.

"W-We won!" Kiba exclaimed.

All of our class started hugging each other and cheering. However, Granny interrupted us… again.

"There's also a prize for the top three students in the class. Third place will get a $25 gift card to wherever they like; second place will get a $50 gift card and a "skip school" pass; and first place will get a $100 gift card, a "skip school" pass, _and_ two tickets to go see Linkin Park in concert!"

I couldn't believe it. I just _had_ to get those tickets. _Please, let me win it; please, let me win… _

"Third place is… Sophia Hatake!"

"Sophia-chan, nice job!" a few of the girls cheered.

"A-Arigato," Sophia replied, blushing and rubbing the back of her head nervously.

"Second place is… Naruto Uzumaki!"

I froze in place. _D-Did she just call my name?_

Sakura, Sophia, and a few other girls smiled at me.

"Way to go, Naruto-kun," Sophia congratulated.

I couldn't help but smile. Even if I didn't win first place, I was still happy that I got the "skip school" pass. I'm sure if Sophia-lincho had won second place, she would have never used it. I looked at Granny Tsunade again, awaiting the announcement of first place. Shizune handed Granny a piece of paper. Tsunade held the microphone up to her mouth and said, "And the first place winner is… Kiba Inuzuka!"

We all looked at Kiba. He looked just as shocked as we did, if not more. After a moment, Sophia nudged Kiba and said, "Kiba, she just called your name! Go up there!"

Kiba nodded and ran up to the stage, the look of bewilderment still on his face **(A/N: Hey, that rhymed! Okay, you can completely ignore this…)** After Kiba had been handed the piece of paper – which probably held the Linkin Park tickets – I saw the old lady whisper something into his ear. Kakashi-sensei came out from behind the curtain of the stage and handed Kiba his guitar again.

"Well, I wasn't expecting to win," Kiba spoke to the crowd, "I'm sure none of us were, mostly because we didn't know there was actually a competition going on. So, if I could get a few people up here to help me out with a song, it'd be helpful. And the people I'm talking about are Naruto, Sophia, and Sakura."

The four of us looked at each other. Why did he need us? We quickly walked to the stage. Kiba met us at the top of the stairs.

"What is this all about, Kiba?" Sakura asked.

"Naruto, is it true that you can play the drums?" Kiba turned to me.

"Uh, yeah, it is," I replied. "Why?"

"Do you know how to play the song 'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous'?"

Grinning, I answered, "That's my favorite song to play at home!"

"Good, 'cause I'm going to need you for this. Tsunade-sama has asked me to play a song for everyone, and that song was the first one that popped into my head. Sophia, Sakura, do you two know how to play that song on guitar?"

Sophia and Sakura nodded their heads.

"But, Kiba, where are we going to get our instruments?" Sophia inquired.

"Don't worry; Tsunade-sama all ready has our stuff set up. They're behind the curtain. This means we should go behind the curtain as well."

"Roger!"

"Okay!"  
**

* * *

(Sasuke's POV)**

I wondered what they were doing. This was taking too damn long. I wanted to go home and go to sleep. The annoyance caused me to sigh.

"Irritated, Uchiha?" Neji asked.

"Hn."

Finally, after what seemed to be forever, the curtain opened. Was I dreaming? It was like our school had created a band or something. Naruto was at the drums; Kiba was at the mic with his guitar; Sakura and Sophia were on each side of Kiba with guitars in their hands. What was going on? After a few seconds, Naruto started hitting the drums. Kiba and the girls started playing a note, and Kiba came up to his mic.

_"Always see it on TV.  
Or read it in the magazines  
Celebrities want sympathy  
All they do is piss and moan  
Inside the rolling stone  
Talkin'about how hard life can be_

_I'd like to see them spend a week  
Livin' life out on the street  
I don't think they would survive  
If they could spend a day or two  
Walkin' in someone else's shoes  
I think they'd stumble and they'd fall  
They would fall... (fall)_

_Lifestyles of the rich and the famous  
They're always complainin'  
Always complainin'...  
If money is such a problem  
Well they've got mansions  
Think we should rob them_

_Well did you know when you were famous you could kill your wife  
And there's no such thing as 25 to life  
As long as you've got the cash, to pay for Cochran  
And did you know if you were caught and you were smokin' crack  
McDonalds wouldn't even wanna take you back  
You could always just run for mayor of D.C._

_I'd like to see them spend a week  
Livin' life out on the street  
I don't think they would survive  
If they could spend a day or two  
Walking in someone else's shoes  
I think they'd stumble and they'd fall  
they would fall_

_Lifestyles of the rich and the famous  
They're always complainin'  
Always complainin'...  
If money is such a problem  
Well they've got mansions  
Think we should rob them_

_Lifestyles of the rich and the famous  
They're always complainin'  
Always complainin'...  
If money is such a problem  
They've got so many problems  
Think I could solve them_

_Lifestyles of the rich and famous  
We'll take your clothes, cash, cars and homes just stop complainin'_

_Lifestyles of the rich and famous...  
Lifestyles of the rich and famous...  
Lifestyles of the rich and famous."_

Everyone except for me got up and cheered. A few people started chanting, "Kiba! Kiba! Kiba!"

Soon enough, almost everyone was shouting the chant. Kiba just smiled and waved at everyone. "Thanks, you guys!"

By the time we all got out of the school building, the sun was all ready setting. Our whole class decided to walk together. I heard a few of my classmates' stomachs growl. Once in a while it would be mine.

"Okay," Sophia interrupted the nice, peaceful silence, "we need to decide where we're going for our trip."

We all started thinking. I didn't really care at all, but it would probably be nice to get out of the city. Maybe we could go to Okinawa or Tokyo.

"Oh, how about Disneyland!" Dope head* exclaimed.

Sakura punched him on the head. "You idiot! Pick a place for our age!"

Sophia chuckled while the rest of us just looked at him like he was some complete – oh wait, he _was _a complete idiot. My bad…

After a few minutes, Neji sighed and said, "Why don't we discuss this during first period. Kakashi-sensei will let us do that, right, Sophia?"

Sophia nodded her head. "I'm sure."

Our group got smaller after a few minutes. Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Shino had gone off to get something to eat. Ino, Sakura, and Hinata decided to go shopping. We had reached TenTen's house and then Lee's.

"Well, this is my stop," Sophia said as we reached her apartment.

"Here, I'll walk you," Neji offered.

And with that, the two walked off. Geez, when would Neji just tell Sophia that he liked her? For the last freakin' what – five, six years? You'd think they'd be married by now, though that's kind of illegal. I sighed, giving into the frustration. Since the two "love birds" had gone, it just left me and… Naruto.

"Hey, Sasuke, you want to go play at the arcade?" Naruto asked me.

"No," I answered as I started straying away.

"You're just afraid I'd beat you at all the games."

I stopped walking. I turned slowly towards him. "You're on."

* * *

**Now you see why it took me so long. The regular chapter was 6,519 words long. I don't even know how many words there are from the edit. And plus there was spring break, Guitar Hero: World Tour (hehe, maybe that's not such a good excuse, ne?), friends, etc. I hope this made it up to you though! **

**I also want to have a vote on who's song you like the most. Honestly, my favorite was a tie between Neji and Kiba. But I always love hearing your opinion. So, just write a review saying who was your favorite and also a comment on the chapter (this is optional, but I'd love it if you would!). Here are the list of songs that I used in order:**

**1. Faint - Linkin Park**

**2. Dance Dance - Fall Out Boy**

**3. One of Those Girls - Avril Lavigne**

**4. Suigintou no Yoru - Sugiyama Noriaki (Sasuke's actual voice actor)  
**

**5. The Answer - Showtaro Morikubo (Shikamaru's actual voice actor)  
**

**6. Bring 'Em Out - Hawk Nelson**

**7. Flavor of Life - Utada Hikaru  
**

**Anyways, here's the words/phrases of the chapter:**

**Teme: Bastard**

_The two shadows melt in the mercury lamp-lit night.* __We have to know, have to know the answer."*_**: These two songs are in their English versions, so that's why they don't really rhyme.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, everyone! Guess what!!! KAKASHI-SAMA IS ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kishimoto-sensei is the greatest!! Except for when he made Danzo freakin' Hokage of Konoha. Who does that!? Well, anyways, here's the next chapter!**

**

* * *

**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 7: Oh Crap! He Said the 'F' Word!  
**

**(Ino's POV)**

"Ino, wake up!" Mom yelled.

I rolled over on my bed, keeping my eyes shut.

"Ino!"

I forced my eyes open. "What?"

"It's 7:30. Do you know how late you're going to be?"

At first, I didn't get it. But when I looked at my calendar, I noticed the date. Pushing the covers off me, I ran into my shower. "Thanks for reminding me!" I yelled over my shoulder.

"Bye, Mom!" I sprinted as fast as I could to the cross walk. I waited impatiently for it to turn to the 'walk' sign. My foot kept on tapping. I knew I forgot to set my alarm clock!

"So, you're running late too?"

Ugh, it was Shikamaru. Great, I was all ready pissed off, and he just _happened_ to be the only other person running late. "What's it to you?"

"Geez, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Or is this how you usually are?"

My eyebrow flinched. No way was this guy going to judge my personality! I clenched my teeth and slowly counted to ten. _One… two… three…_

"Shikamaru! Ino! Wait up!"

Great, so not only did I have to walk with this lazy ass punk, but I also had to walk with the obese guy? How lame could my life get?

"Oh, hey, Chouji, what's up?" Shikamaru greeted.

Chouji was eating his favorite barbeque chips, as usual. Finally, after what seemed like centuries, the sign said "walk." The three of us crossed the street, Shikamaru and Chouji talking about some video game. As we got closer to Sophia's apartment, I noticed a figure behind a nearby tree. I couldn't make out who it was, but I knew the silhouette was a girl's. It looked like she was crying. We got closer and closer to the tree. I stopped walking when I could see who the girl was.

"Huh? Ino, what's wrong?" Shikamaru asked me.

"Why is Sophia-lincho crying?" I pointed to the girl behind the tree.

The two looked in the direction I was pointing.

"What are you talking about, Ino?" Chouji, his mouth full with chips, questioned. "There's no one there."

"Eh? Are you sure?" I ran to the tree and faced the direction in which I saw Sophia. Sure enough, she wasn't there. I was certain I had seen her behind here. Could I have been hallucinating? _No, of course not!_ Sophia-lincho had definitely been here. The only question that I couldn't figure out was why was she crying? I shook my head and kept on walking.

"Forget about it," I told them. "Now, come on! We're going to be late!"

Fortunately, we made it on time. As soon as we entered the class room, I noticed Sophia was missing. So that proved the fact that Sophia _was _definitely at her apartment.

"Ino, are you listening to me?" Sakura snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Uh, yeah, of course I am."

"Then what did I just say?"

I laughed nervously. "U-Um…"

"My point exactly. Is something wrong?"

I looked down. _What should I say?_ I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, but I also didn't want Sophia to be crying either. Frustrated, I sighed. I gestured for Sakura to come closer. She moved to the seat right next to me. "Okay, so you have to promise not to tell anybody, okay?"

Sakura just nodded her head. I sighed again, looking for the right words to say. "Okay, well, Shikamaru, Chouji, and I were walking to school. We were close to Sophia-lincho's apartment. I wasn't really paying attention to Shikamaru and Chouji. And then I saw Sophia-lincho standing behind the tree near her apartment. You know what I'm talking about, right?"

Sakura nodded her head again.

"Well, anyway, I didn't know it was her at the time. All I saw was the silhouette of a girl, and it looked like she was crying. Well, we got closer, and I knew it was her. But when I told Shikamaru and Chouji about it, they said they didn't see anybody. I had to make sure. I stepped behind the tree, and they were telling the truth. Somehow, Sophia-lincho disappeared without me seeing her. I also think it might be the reason that she's not here right now."

"She is late… But still, why would she be crying?"

My mind shifted back to the calendar. My eyes widened. "Think about today's date, Sakura! This is when T – "

"Yo, everyone!" Kakashi welcomed before I could finish my sentence.

He, oddly enough, walked through the door with Sophia behind him. That had been the second time she was late. Could this have something to do with last year?

"Okay, Sophia told me you guys wanted to talk about where we should go for our trip," Kakashi started. "Am I right?"

We all nodded our heads.

"Well, let's take suggestions first, and then we'll vote on which one we like the most."

"Hai," we answered.

I saw Naruto shoot his hand up.

"For the last time, Dobe, we're _not_ going to Disneyland," Sasuke kicked Naruto in the head.

A few of us laughed. Naruto had an angry look on his face. "I wasn't going to say Disneyland."

"Then what were you going to say? Hirakata Park*?"

Naruto sank down in his seat. "No," he muttered.

Some of the guys burst out with laughter. Kiba was literally rolling on the ground. "T-This guy's a joke."

Neji raised his hand.

"Go ahead, Neji," Kakashi said.

Neji stood up. "What if we went to Nagashima Spa Land?"

All the girls' heads in the room shot up. A couple of guys looked at each other.

"Hell yeah!"

"Let's go!"

"Neji is a genius."

"Okay, okay," Kakashi-sensei replied, "let's take a vote. How many for Naruto's suggestion?"

Nobody except for Naruto raised their hands. He looked around, confused. "I thought you guys would like that."

I just stared at him. He really _was _a complete imbecile.

Kakashi coughed to get our attention again. "And how many for Neji's suggestion?"

All of our hands shot up.

"I guess it's settled then," Kakashi-sensei finished. "We're going to Nagashima Spa Land!"

We all started chattering away, except for Sophia. _I thought she had gotten over_ him…

"Ino pig, come on!" Sakura snapped me out of my thoughts.

My head shot up. "Y-Yeah."

Sakura looked concerned. I sighed. "I'm fine. It's just that I've been thinking." I lowered my voice. "Today was the second day that Sophia was late. I'm afraid that she's still thinking of – of him."

Sakura faked a smile. "Ino, you're thinking too much. Sophia was probably just late because of something else. There's nothing to – "

"Sakura, listen to me! Sophia's never been late to _anything_. We have _everything_ to worry about."

Sakura's smile faded away, and she looked down. "So what do we do?"

I let out a held breath. "I-I'm not sure."

"But we have to do something!"

She was irritating me now. "Sakura, calm down. We have all day to figure out what we should do."

As the two of us walked to our lockers, I started thinking about a way to prove my theory right. _Wait, isn't she going to Neji's house tonight?_ I gasped. "I've got it!"

"W-What are you talking about?" Sakura asked as she jumped back.

I whispered my plan in her ear.

**

* * *

(Neji's POV)**

I didn't really care about the whole "free trip to anywhere" prize. Honestly, I would've preferred staying at home… until my uncle and I got into a fight. The night before we had been giving some of the students at our dojo a few tips about the quickest way to knock down an opponent. Well, of course, after I had given my advice, my uncle said that I was completely wrong and started going off about something else. You can probably guess what happened after that. So, anywhere away from him would be a haven.

"Oi! Neji!"

I turned away from my locker to see the last person I expected to come up: Ino.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Geez, you sound gloomier than Shikamaru," Ino replied. "And that's a pretty tough accomplishment."

I just glared at her.

"Okay, sorry," Ino said, "anyways, I have a favor to ask you."

"What kind of favor?"

She took a deep breath before starting. "I need you to ask Sophia a question."

One of my eyebrows shot up. "Would this question have anything to do with today's date?"

Ino nodded before adding, "I'm starting to get worried. I-I saw Sophia crying this morning, and she was late too, a-and I'm scared that the trauma from last year is getting worse, and –"

I cut her off. "Ino, okay, I get it. Don't worry; I'll figure this out."

The blonde girl sighed with relief. "Thanks, Neji. I don't know how I could repay you."

"You don't have to. Oh, and, next time, make sure you don't shed fake tears. I could see right through you."

I saw her eyes twitch as I walked away. I bet that she was probably thinking, _Damn you, Neji! Those were not fake tears!!_ I couldn't help but smile at the thought.

**

* * *

(Naruto's POV)**

Lunch finally came around. _Thank goodness!_ Everyone from our class was sitting at the same table (which I have no idea how we all could fit). At first, we were all laughing at each other and playing around. Then the next few moments went by so fast with a bad ending.

It started out playfully. One of the girls, probably Ino, called Shikamaru a name. Then he called someone else a name. We all knew it was for fun, but I guess I said the wrong word to Chouji. I didn't know "fatty" was a bad word to say in front of him.

"Oh, crap, everyone, run for your life!" Shikamaru yelled.

I had no idea what he was saying that for… until…. Well, then it turned into something like the Hulk. Chouji became bigger than he was before and started attacking me. I didn't know what to do. So, I ran out of the cafeteria and into the hallway. Who knew someone so big could be so fast! Finally, I made it to the door. As I jumped out of the school, I saw some of the others running after us. Chouji had my full attention again. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Chouji was _rolling _towards me like a bulldozer!

_I don't want to die! I don't want to die!_

Chouji kept on getting closer and closer. It came to the point where I really did think I was going to die. He was so close to me, I could feel the ground shake.

_Please, don't let me die! Don't let me die!_

"Chouji, that's enough!"

Before I knew what was happening, I was on the ground. When I looked up, Sophia was standing there giving a lecture to Chouji.

"And you," she said as she glared at me (which I involuntarily jumped back), "you should listen to one of us before you start calling someone a name. Geez, Naruto, you keep this up and the whole school will come crumbling down."

"W-What are you talking about?" I asked.

Sophia sighed before pointing back to the school. Chouji and I both looked at the school and couldn't believe what we saw. There was a huge hole where the door had been. Several lockers were dented, and a guy was knocked out.

_C-Chouji did that!?_

Sophia saw the amazed looks on our face. "You're lucky Tsunade-dono –"

"Naruto! Chouji!"

I turned my head slowly, afraid of who was standing behind us. Unfortunately, it was exactly who I thought it was. Standing with her arms folded was the old Granny.

"T-Tsunade-sama…" Chouji was also afraid.

"Listen, Granny, we didn't mean to do any of th –"

"To my office… NOW!"

"H-Hai."

I was scared as Chouji and I walked to Tsunade's office and maybe a little apologetic.

"Listen, Chouji, I didn't mean what I said in the cafeteria, okay? I didn't know –"

"Naruto, it's okay. Just promise me you'll try not to say it again."

I nodded my head with a smile. Unfortunately, that happy moment didn't last long. As soon as we got into Granny's office, things went far worse than what I expected. Once we stepped in, the door slammed behind us, revealing an angry Tsunade.

"Sit down," she commanded.

We did as she said immediately.

"Do you know how much damage you did to this school?"

"Um…"

"…."

Chouji and I were speechless. A torn off door and a knocked out student couldn't be that bad, could it?

"You destroyed the regular entrance, knocked out one of the seniors, and damaged most of the lockers in that hallway! Our school doesn't grow money!"

I gulped. Chouji was sweating like a pig. This was getting very, very bad.

"Because of your immature behavior, you both get detention for the next month and will spend your free period helping the lunch ladies clean. Understood?"

"H-Hai."

"Now, go run two laps around the track!"

"H-Hai!"

The two of us burst through the door and ran as fast as we could toward the track.

**

* * *

(Sophia's POV)**

I wanted to see how Chouji and Naruto were doing. Tsunade was fuming outside which meant bad things for the both of them. _I hope they didn't get in too much trouble._

My thoughts were interrupted by screaming. I looked up to see Naruto and Chouji charging toward me. _Holy crap! What the hell are they running from? Tsunade must've scared the life out of them to be able to make Naruto _and _Chouji run._

The two boys zoomed past me.

"Ah, sorry, Sophia-lincho!" Naruto yelled. "Granny's making us run! Talk to you later!"

I looked at him a little bit confused. Tsunade was just making them run? Or was that just part of their punishment? I sighed as I walked back to my now crushed locker. _No thanks to Chouji._ I glanced at my watch to see what time it was. I had five minutes to get from my locker to my next class. _Just three more periods to go, and then I have to get ready to help Neji!_ I couldn't help but smile. _It's like a dream come true! I get to go to Neji's house!_

_Why are you so happy?_

I looked around to see where the voice had come from. It took me a minute to realize that it was my own subconscious talking to me.

_Did you forget what today is?_

My eyes widened. _My subconscious is right. I shouldn't be like this… today, anyways._ I wiped a tear from my eye. _I think I'll stop by the restrooms before I get my books._ I ran to the nearest girls' bathroom and grabbed a paper towel as I entered a stall. Flashes of _him _kept on running through my head. I wrapped my arms around my legs and let all the tears out.

It was finally time to go to Neji's house. Though I tried to calm it down, my heart kept on pounding. _Breathe, breathe, _I told myself as I went through my closet. _What should I wear!?_ I couldn't decide. _Idiot, it doesn't matter! It's just a stupid study date!_ I grabbed the first thing I saw and put it on.

"There, that looks good."

I ran out of my room and knocked on Kakashi's door. "Kakashi-senpai, I'm leaving now!"

"Uhuh," came a muffle reply.

"And stop reading those perverted books!" I laughed as I sprinted towards the elevator.

My heart started pounding very loudly when I was close to Neji's house. Well, technically, it was a dojo/house. Neji's family owned the best karate place in all of Tokyo. I glanced at my watch one more time. _He should almost be done with the last class. I'll just watch._

I entered the dojo and sat on the bleachers that they had inside. I saw Neji in his uniform and blushed. He saw me too, smiled, and waved. I waved back as he returned to showing a student some sort of technique.

After about five minutes, the class was over. Neji was wiping his face with a towel when I walked over to him. He noticed me and threw the towel in a bin near the door that lead to the house.

"Glad you made it," Neji greeted me.

"Anything to help a fellow student," I teased.

He smiled before he opened the door. "Ladies first."

"Thank you."

I walked into what I thought was heaven, or at least a heaven on earth. This was the first time I had ever been to the Hyuga household. It was huge! There were several different staircases leading to various hallways. Kids were running around, and I noticed some adults watching the television.

"S-Sugoi," I muttered.

"Why don't we go somewhere less crowded?" Neji suggested.

I nodded my head in agreement. He led me to the staircase furthest to the left.

"My room's not that clean, so I'm apologizing ahead of time."

"It's fine."

His room wasn't that bad. Sure, there were clothes lying everywhere, but at least it didn't smell. I grabbed my English book out of my bag and sat down at the table he had in front of his bed. Neji sat down beside me, English book in hand. "Okay, so what are you having trouble with?"

Neji finally figured out how the English sentence structure worked.

"Well, I better go," I said as I grabbed my stuff.

I started walking toward the door before… I had my back to the wall, and Neji had both of his arms leaning against it, keeping me from going anywhere.

"N-Neji-kun, what is this?"

"What's going on, Sophia?"

I didn't know what he was talking about. "I don't understand."

"Sophia, you've been late to class three times; you fell asleep in one class; everyone is noticing that you're not acting like yourself; Ino says that she saw you crying –"

"Hold on a minute, what!? H-How do you even know that was really me? A-And why is Ino getting into my business?" I could feel the tears welling up. "And w-why are we even talking about this?!"

Neji kept his cool. "It's Takeo, isn't it?"

I snapped. "No! This has _nothing_ to do with him! Neji, that was a year ago. I've gotten over him, okay? Why doesn't everyone just, just mind their own business! You know what, why don't I just leave!?"

I ducked underneath his left arm and flung the door open. Why, oh w_hy_, did this have to happen?

"He's right you know," Hinata said as she stepped from the side of the door.

I guessed she had been listening to our argument that whole time; it was kind of hard not to hear us anyway. "Right about what?"

"Everyone has noticed your behavior, Sophia-lincho, and everyone is worried. But they're all afraid to confront you about Takeo because you refuse to talk about it. Neji-nii-san was the only one that was brave enough to talk to you about it. He's the one that's worried the most, Sophia."

I couldn't argue with that. Hinata was right on the spot. I sighed. "You're right, Hinata. Thanks."

Hinata just smiled at me and walked to her room. "Have a nice night, Sophia."

"You too, Hinata."

I walked back to Neji's room. It was kind of awkward because he was looking out his window, and I was just standing there with my hands in my pocket.

Neji was the first to break the silence. "You know, maybe I was wrong about –"

"Gomenesai*! I was wrong to be mad at you, Neji."

It took a second before he turned around with that dazzling grin of his. "I'm sorry too, Sophia. It's just that I had no idea what was happening." He paused. "But I have to know, does your behavior from the past week have anything to do with Takeo?"

I looked down. "Yeah."

I felt Neji's hand on my face. He lifted my head so that I was looking into his eyes. "Sophia, if you ever have a problem like this again, don't keep it to yourself, okay?"

"Okay."

We both softly chuckled, until my stomach growled.

"Oh, I haven't had dinner yet."

"Well, then," Neji said as he grabbed his jacket and keys, "I'll just have to take you out to eat."

My face went red. Neji-kun was taking _me _on a _date_!? "Eh? Y-You don't have to do that, Neji-kun."

"It's fine. I'll pay."

"A-Are you sure? I'll pay for myself, if you want."

Neji leaned on the side of his door and just smiled at me. "Sophia, it's fine."

And with that, we went to a restaurant near the mall.

**

* * *

(Regular POV)**

"Will that be all?" the waitress asked.

"Yes," Neji answered.

"Okay, then, if you need anything else just holler."

"All right."

Sophia and Neji had their food in front of them. Sophia sighed before asking again, "Are you positively _sure_ I don't have to pay?"

Neji chuckled silently. "I'm sure."

Sophia finally gave up and began eating her food.

"So, has Kakashi let you drive the car yet?"

Sophia put her fork down and rested her head in her hands. "No, he thinks I'd have a better chance trying to burn his perverted books than driving his car."

They both started laughing.

"Hey, Kiba, hurry up!" Ino yelled.

Ino, Sakura, Hinata, Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, Shino, Sasuke, TenTen, and Lee had been hanging out at the mall. Kiba ran past Ino but stopped when he saw Sophia and Neji sitting outside of a restaurant.

"Hey, guys," Kiba said, "look who it is: the lovebirds."

They all looked over to the restaurant.

"What's this?" TenTen said. "Sophia just said they were having a 'study' date, not a real date."

"We better keep this a secret though," Sakura suggested.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"Because the last time we caught Sophia with Tak- "

Ino covered Sakura's mouth. "Sakura, don't talk about that!"

Sakura understood. "Yeah, sorry."

_What in the world are they talking about!?_ Naruto wondered.

"Ah, finished," Sophia said as she put her napkin down.

"Great, I'll walk you home," Neji offered.

"O-Okay."

The walk home was quiet yet nice for the two. They didn't have anything awkward between them. Occasionally they would talk about some random topic. Finally, they got to Sophia's apartment.

"Well, this is my stop," Sophia said. "I'll see you Monday."

"Yeah, see you Monday."

Sophia started walking toward the door.

"Ah, Sophia, wait."

Sophia turned around, and Neji hugged her. Sophia's face went completely red.

"N-Neji-kun?"

"Goodnight, Sophia," Neji replied before he kissed Sophia on the forehead and walked away.

Sophia was left there, face red and hot, not knowing what just happened. But that night, she had a _very_ good night's sleep.

* * *

**Yeah, I know, it's such a short chapter for such a long period of me not writing. Sorry! And don't be expecting anything in the next few weeks either because I'm going to be v_ery _busy. Anyways, here's the one word that I know one of you has never heard of.**

**"Gomenesai*! ........" : This means "I'm sorry" in Japanese**

**Well, that's it. Hope you guys have a great summer!  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, everyone! I'm back, and I'm soo excited to get back to writing! I've been awfully busy lately with other stories, school work, and extra curricular activites. Anyways, here's chapter eight. Oh, and sorry if Sasuke seems OOC in this chapter. I tried to make him as Sasuke-ish as possible, but I just hate his personality! So Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its character except my own (Sophia). I wish I did though, because then I would've finished Karin off. _Thanks, Sasuke, for all most killing her!_ **

**Chapter 8 – "The Dobe and the Beast"**

_**(Sophia's POV)**_

It was finally Monday! I couldn't wait to see Neji-kun again. My heart pounded faster just thinking about him. I was smiling when I entered homeroom.

"Ohayou, everyone," I greeted as I took my seat.

"Ohayou, Sophia-lincho," TenTen replied.

As I looked at TenTen, she smiled at me with suspicion written all over her face. It made me wonder.

"So, Sophia-lincho, how come you didn't tell us about your date with Neji on Friday?" Ino asked.

I froze. How in the world did she know about that?! I thought I had kept that a secret. Then I remembered the café. _Shoot! We were in a public place and outside too!_

"What are you talking about, Ino?" I tried to cover it up.

"Sophia-lincho, it's no use," Kiba interrupted, "We caught you two eating together at a café."

_Damn, there's no way out of this._ I sighed. Time for another cover up.

"Sophia helped me with English, and I paid her back by treating her to dinner," Neji said as he walked in.

"Neji-kun!" Thank goodness he came in. _My hero,_ my princess side thought.

"Yo, Sophia," he greeted with a smile.

I blushed.

"Eh, so it wasn't a date?" Sakura asked, disappointment clearly visible in her voice.

Neji nodded his head. All the girls whined – except for Hinata – while some of the guys sighed in disappointment.

"Nice save, Neji-kun," I whispered to him with a wink as I sat down.

It was then that I noticed. "Has anyone seen Naruto?"

Sasuke smirked as he said, "The dumbass is probably still asleep."

"What was that, teme?!" Naruto yelled as he kicked the door open.

The door flew to the ground. I couldn't believe it. _Naruto, you idiot!!_ I sighed angrily.

"Naruto, do you have any idea how much damage you're doing to this school?!" I asked him as I slapped the back of his head.

"O-Ow!" Naruto yelped before rubbing his head. "It's not my fault! It's all that Sauce-kay guy's fault!"

"It's 'Sasuke,' dumbo," Sasuke corrected.

"Whatever," Naruto muttered.

TenTen sighed. "Will you _please_ just shut up?" She was obviously talking to Naruto. Everyone knew not to talk to Sasuke like that, and she was also a Sasuke fan girl.

"What's your problem?" Naruto inquired, a bit annoyed himself.

"What's _my_ problem? My problem is you! Ever since you came to this school, you've been nothing but a nuisance!"

"TenTen!" I interrupted, knowing that this could quickly turn into a fight.

TenTen backed off but still kept the look of anger on her face. She would challenge Naruto to a fight later today, I just knew it.

"Hey, let's not start the day off on the wrong foot, okay?" Kakashi asked as he appeared out of nowhere.

"Fine," Naruto and TenTen mumbled.

I sighed. It was going to be another bad day where Naruto was going to get himself into trouble, and I was going to have to clean up after either him or TenTen.

---------------

---------------

_**(Sasuke's POV)**_

The dobe was being a retard again. _Man, why in the world did he have to be so stupid?! _

First period ended, and all of us rushed out the door. Someone almost ran me over, and I was about to yell at them before—

"Ah, sorry, Sasuke!" Sakura apologized. "Something unexpected has come up, so I have to hurry!"

_Unexpected?_ I blinked. Nothing unexpected ever happened to _Sakura_. She was one of the people who was born with good luck. I walked over to Sophia.

"Hey, what's up with Sakura?" I asked.

Sophia looked at me, confused. All of a sudden, a devious look crept onto her face. "Huh? Is Sasuke worried about Sakura? Hey, Ino, looks like Sasuke's worried about Sakura!!"

My face turned bright red. Ino was obviously surprised.

"W-What?!" She screamed.

Sophia started laughing. I was frozen. _What can I say?_

"N-No, it's not like that!" I argued. "It's just that she usually doesn't rush past me without saying something!"

Now Sophia's face had shock written on it. "Something's wrong with Sakura?"

Ino had caught up to us (she was way behind us, probably talking to Shikamaru). "Oh, yeah, she did say something about her mom being in the hospital; but Sakura wouldn't tell me what was wrong with her."

Okay, so Sakura was no longer one of the lucky people. That was completely surprising. "Hn." That was all I could say.

Sophia glared at me. "That's all you can say, Sasuke? Geez, she'll be glad to know you care so much." I was about to interrupt her. "No, no, you'll make it up by visiting her and her mother after school. All of us will go; right, guys?"

Sophia stared down each one of us.

"Right," we all agreed.

There was no way we could say no to Sophia. She'd have our heads.

Second, third, and fourth period passed by quickly. Maybe it was because Sakura wasn't stalking me. Either way, it was an uncomfortable feeling. _What am I saying?!_

It was P.E. that made my day even more interesting. Gai had been called to Tsunade's office for who-knows-what-reason. Sophia had been left in charge.

Things had been okay at first. We all were talking to each other, not really doing anything exciting. However, TenTen just ruined all of that. She walked up to Naruto, hands bawled into fists. Before any of us guys knew what was happening, Naruto went flying into the wall.

Sophia rushed over. "Hey, TenTen, stop!"

TenTen and Naruto had begun fighting. Even after Sophia had said that several times, neither of them stopped. It was like watching a brother and sister fight.

Finally, after five minutes of watching the two punch each other, Sophia had had enough. She was about to break the two up, but Neji held her back.

"Just let TenTen cool off," was all he said.

Sophia didn't argue, but didn't relax either. All of us knew that TenTen had some anger issues – something that every one of us had in common.

TenTen punched Naruto in the gut, making him fall backwards. Naruto got right back up, flinching when he held his stomach.

"What's wrong?" TenTen asked when Naruto didn't move. "Are you afraid of hurting a girl?"

"Tch, yeah right," Naruto retorted. "What _girl_ would start a fight, teme?"

A few of the guys snickered. Sophia just sighed a simple "baka" under her breath.

Naruto ran towards TenTen. TenTen was about to punch him, but Naruto ducked and knocked her off her feet. _Not bad,_ I thought to myself. TenTen got back up, but Naruto quickly punched her to the ground again. TenTen crawled to Naruto and bit his leg. Naruto yelped in pain. He quickly shook her off; TenTen jumped up. The two started running at each other. They both had a fist in the air and were about to finish the fight. _This is it…_

"What's going on in here?!" Gai yelled.

TenTen and Naruto stopped immediately.

"I leave for a few minutes, and you two start a fight… in _my_ class!"

"Shit," Sophia muttered.

I smirked. It looked like she wasn't expecting Gai to be back this early.

"Sophia, I thought I left you in charge of these guys."

Sophia stuttered. She couldn't get any words out. I decided to help her out.

"You know TenTen can't be controlled when she's pissed off, Gai. And Naruto won't listen to anyone," I said.

Everyone stared at me like I had two heads. _What? It's not like this is the first time I've ever been nice. Okay, maybe it is._

"T-Thanks, Sasuke," Sophia forced the words out.

P.E. ended fast. TenTen and Naruto were only given a warning. The rest of the day went by pretty quickly. Once the final bell rang, I grabbed my stuff and headed toward my locker.

"Sasuke-kun!"

My eye twitched. It was Karin. I hurriedly grabbed my backpack, slammed my locker, and sped away. However, Karin was quick in her steps.

"Where are you going in such a hurry, Sasuke?"

I searched for words—something to get me away from her.

"He's coming with us to go visit Sakura," Sophia answered as she stepped in front of Karin. "I'm afraid he has no time for you, Karin."

Karin's face went red with anger. The two had lightning between their eyes.

"Hey, wait a minute," Karin said thoughtfully. "What about cheer practice?"

"I all ready talked to Coach, and she said it was okay," Sophia responded in a smart-ass kind of way. "Come on, Sasuke. Everyone's waiting for us."

Sophia grabbed my hand and literally dragged me out of the building. Surprisingly enough, everyone _was_ waiting for us—our whole class.

"What took you so long?" Kiba asked.

"Who do you think? It was the she-devil," Sophia replied. "Let's go."

"Hey, do you guys need a lift?"

We all turned our heads in the direction the voice had come from. It was Asuma in a huge van.

"Asuma-sensei!" Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru ran up to meet him immediately.

"How'd you get out of school so fast?" Shikamaru inquired.

Asuma started to say something, but Ino interrupted. "He was probably bored because Kurenai-sensei is the cheerleading coach so she's busy in the afternoons."

Asuma's face went completely red. We all laughed.

"Anyways, come on, guys," Sophia said as she jumped in the van. "This is quicker than walking."

The rest of us filed in. I sat down next to the dobe. Neji was in front of us, sitting next to Sophia (unsurprisingly). Sophia was right as usual. It only took us ten minutes to get to the hospital when it would've taken us probably half an hour walking.

----------------

----------------

_**(Sakura's POV)**_

I was sitting next to my mom who was asleep when I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," I called.

The door opened, and in walked everyone from my class and…

"Asuma-sensei?"

"Yo, Sakura-chan," Naruto greeted.

"We thought we'd come visit," Sophia explained as Ino handed me some flowers.

"Make sure they get plenty of water and sunlight," my best friend ordered.

I saluted mockingly. "Yes, ma'am."

"So, do they know what's wrong with her?" TenTen asked.

I sighed as I put the flowers in a vase. I went to the sink. "They said she had a series of seizures. Probably caused by stress."

Everyone looked at me with pity, all except for Sasuke. I was thankful that at least he didn't look at me with the same sorrowful look everyone else gave.

"But I'll be back in school tomorrow," I told them. "Dad's taking the day off."

The group stayed and talked to me for a few minutes. After at least twenty minutes, a few of them left claiming that if they didn't get home that their parents would eat their dinner. Only Sophia, Neji, Hinata, Sasuke, Naruto, and Ino remained. Ino had started playing with my hair; Sophia and Neji were talking to each other; Naruto was talking to me; and I was staring at Sasuke. Why was he still here? I thought he would've left with the others. Sasuke noticed me staring at him.

"What?" he asked.

I blushed. "I-It's nothing."

It was another thirty minutes before the rest decided to leave. Neji, Hinata, and Naruto headed out the door with a simple "bye." Sophia paused when she reached the door.

"Sakura, if you need anything just call me, okay?" she said.

I nodded my head. Sophia could be like an angel sometimes. Sophia walked away, closing the door behind her. It was just me, Sasuke, and Mom. I just kept staring at Sasuke. This was completely not like him. Sasuke _hated_ me and yet here he was, the last one to leave. Why was he here? Could he really care for me?

"Listen," Sasuke said, snapping me back into reality, "I don't know what you're going through. I will never know. But your mom will get better, Sakura; I guarantee it."

What was he saying? Sasuke was being… nice; not the I-feel-sorry-for-you nice, but actually nice. As I realized that this was perhaps the happiest moment of my life, a smile somehow found its way onto my face. And in that moment, I didn't care if Sasuke thought I was weird.

_Grumble! _The smile quickly faded as I figured out the origin of the noise. I looked down at my stomach. _Stupid self! You forgot to eat lunch today!! _My face turned completely red. Why now? Why here? Why in front of the most gorgeous man in the universe?!

"Here, I'll get us something to eat." Sasuke stood up. "I'm kind of hungry too. What do you want?"

I put my hand under my chin. "Anything's fine with me!" I grinned. Sasuke just looked at me, but I thought I saw a smile threatening to show. He left the room and went downstairs. I was sad to see him leave, but knowing he would come back filled my stomach with butterflies.

_Way to go, Sakura! I think he's falling for us! _My other self said.

I let out a chuckle. _Yeah right, like Sasuke could ever fall for someone like me. I'm not even his type, much less suitable for him. He's better off with someone like Ino or Sophia._

A tear fell onto my lap. My hand felt water streaming down from my left eye. I was crying? I wiped the tears off with my hand. This was not the time to be acting like a baby.

In a matter of moments, Sasuke was back with food in his hands. He had grabbed a few sandwiches from the cafeteria downstairs. Sasuke threw one towards me, and I caught it.

"Thanks," I said.

"Hn."

'_Hn.'_ Sasuke was back to his usual self then. I was disappointed, but was this not the guy who had just gotten me food? Why should I care if he's his old self again? That's the reason I fell for him… well, that and his good looks.

We ate in silence. I didn't want to annoy him, and he wasn't the type for conversations. When we were all most done, there was a knock on the door.

"You can come in," I hollered after swallowing the last bite of my third sandwich.

"Good evening, Sakura-san," a man with chestnut colored hair greeted as he entered the room. "I see you have a visitor."

I nodded eagerly. "Yes, Dr. Mitsuo. This is Sasuke. He's one of my friends from school."

The two shook hands. "It's nice to meet you, Sasuke-san."

"Same," Sasuke replied.

"Sakura-san, your father has made it safely to the hospital," Dr. Mitsuo stated. "He's on his way up right now, but he says he wants you to go home. 'She needs her rest' were his exact words."

I hesitated. I didn't want to leave Mom behind, even though I knew Dad would take care of her. I was scared and didn't know what to do. As usual, I was helpless.

"Come on, Sakura, I'll walk you home," Sasuke said as he grabbed his bag and mine.

I couldn't argue. Sasuke was being nice again. So I kissed my mom on the forehead, said goodbye to Dr. Mitsuo, and followed Sasuke out of the hospital. I didn't know how or why, but Sasuke knew exactly where my house was. I was tempted several times to hold his hand, but I knew if I did he would be mad. He didn't like me. I didn't care. All that mattered in those moments was that Sasuke was there, with _me, _walking _me_ home. Unfortunately, we got to my front porch in what seemed to be such a short time. I wanted to walk with Sasuke-kun forever.

"Thanks…again, Sasuke-kun," I said as I unlocked the front door. "I'm such a nuisance at times. Sorry, if I caused you to miss something important tonight."

I opened the door and stepped in. I expected him to say nothing and just walk away. But he was full of surprises.

"It's not a problem, Sakura," Sasuke said.

My eyes widened. He was still here? Sasuke came in. I turned around to face him.

"What—"

He sighed. "There's nowhere I would've rather been tonight, Sakura. Your mom's in the hospital, your dad's busy all the time, and you're trying to take care of everything. Sometimes, it's okay to be vulnerable."

_Sasuke-kun._ I felt another drop of water, this time on my hand. I was crying… again? _Stupid, stupid Sakura!_

Sasuke obviously wasn't expecting this. "W-What's wrong? What did I say?"

I wiped the tears off my face. "Nothing. You did nothing wrong. You said what I needed to hear, that's all."

For some reason, I was drawn to him, and in no time, I was hugging him, crying in his shoulder, acting like a little girl. I thought he was going to push me away, but he just put a hand on my head and tried to comfort me.

_Sasuke. Sweet Sasuke. An angel sent from God._


End file.
